Parrot ANAFI Ai User manual

The 4G robotic UAV

2 v1.8
Cover illustration: a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) view of ANAFI Ai, showing the static
pressure distribution on the drone (right of the image), and highlighting the air vortices around the
drone, at full forward speed (left of the image).

ANAFI Ai – © Parrot 2021 3
Table of contents
A naturalist remark.................................................................................................................................... 5
Flight performances ................................................................................................................................. 6
Key features.............................................................................................................................................................................6
A cool drone .............................................................................................................................................................................6
Aerodynamic performances ............................................................................................................................................6
Actuators and aerodynamics........................................................................................................................................... 7
Sensors.......................................................................................................................................................................................8
Autopilot...................................................................................................................................................................................10
Autonomous flight ................................................................................................................................................................12
Flight missions......................................................................................................................................................................23
Hybrid stabilization.............................................................................................................................................................30
292° tilt range ........................................................................................................................................................................31
4G Connectivity ....................................................................................................................................... 32
Key features..........................................................................................................................................................................32
4G...............................................................................................................................................................................................32
Wi-Fi ..........................................................................................................................................................................................34
Video streaming ..................................................................................................................................................................35
Camera....................................................................................................................................................... 37
Key features...........................................................................................................................................................................37
48 MP sensor.........................................................................................................................................................................37
Lens design ............................................................................................................................................................................37
Video modes .........................................................................................................................................................................38
HDR ...........................................................................................................................................................................................39
Photo modes.........................................................................................................................................................................39
Settings.....................................................................................................................................................................................41
6x zoom................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
Photogrammetry ..................................................................................................................................... 43
Key features..........................................................................................................................................................................43
Designed for inspection and mapping .....................................................................................................................44
Harness the power of AI and 4G .................................................................................................................................46
Photogrammetry or LIDAR?.......................................................................................................................................... 52

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Partner Ecosystem.................................................................................................................................. 53
Software Development Kit.................................................................................................................... 57
Key features ...........................................................................................................................................................................57
Skycontroller 4.........................................................................................................................................68
Key features..........................................................................................................................................................................68
Operations ........................................................................................................................................................................69
Design..................................................................................................................................................................................69
Connectors .......................................................................................................................................................................69
Connectivity......................................................................................................................................................................69
HDMI ....................................................................................................................................................................................69
Battery.................................................................................................................................................................................69
Durability ............................................................................................................................................................................69
Performances..................................................................................................................................................................70
Quality..................................................................................................................................................................................70
Smart battery............................................................................................................................................. 71
Key features............................................................................................................................................................................71
Performances.........................................................................................................................................................................71
Functions.................................................................................................................................................................................72
Quality .......................................................................................................................................................................................73
Cybersecurity by design ........................................................................................................................ 74
Key features...........................................................................................................................................................................74
No data shared by default................................................................................................................................................74
FIPS140-2 compliant and CC EAL5+ certified Secure Element..................................................................74
4G secure pairing and strong authentication........................................................................................................76
Secure initialization and update ...................................................................................................................................76
Configuring user keys on the Secure Element .....................................................................................................77
Digitally signed pictures ...................................................................................................................................................77
Transparency and Bug bounty continuous security check............................................................................77
Data management................................................................................................................................... 79
Data collected........................................................................................................................................................................79
Final use of collected data...............................................................................................................................................81
Pack ............................................................................................................................................................ 82
Pack contents.......................................................................................................................................................................82
Appendix: certification documents..................................................................................................... 83

ANAFI Ai – © Parrot 2021 5
Anaturalist remark
In the animal kingdom, there is no known
species that has optical sensors
distributed around its body.
No insect, bird, fish, or mammal has
developed a ‘visual perception system’ of
sensors, despite each species needing to
detect obstacles or predators in all
directions in order to survive.
Natural evolution has led to the most widespread and efficient solution. For example:
- mobile heads that can be oriented on 3 axes: left/right (yaw), up/down (pitch), and also to a lesser
extent with respect to the horizon (roll);
- this integrates a unique pair of sensors adapted to the animal's behavior, and installed on a vertical
plane of the face for tree-dwelling primates from which we descend, or directed more laterally for
equids for example;
- the pair of sensors are generally mobile on 2 axes: left/right (yaw axis) and up/down (pitch axis).
This visual perception is created of a pair of sensors (the eyes) mobile on 5 free axes (the
movements of the head and eyes in their orbits).
In biology, we also see this in the evolution of the optic nerve. For most species, the optic nerve is
the largest of its kind; it transmits large amounts of information across the body to its cerebral
support. It is also a very short nerve made up of a bundle of cerebral fibers. When we apply this to a
drone, the link (the “bus”) between the sensor and the processor requires an essential exchange of
information, which implies optimizing the length of the bus.
Anatomically, the head of some species is often
detached from the rest of the body. Some flying
species (insects, birds, mammals) have their head
located at the front of its frame, extending the view of
the rest of the body - especially its wings. The
placement of its head also allows its eyes to be
positioned in such a way as to have an excellent field
of view in all directions, and turning the head allows
most flying species to see precisely behind them.
It is from this system of visual perception and cerebral
support emerges the cognitive functions - in this case
the perceptive and conceptual functions.
With this is in mind, Parrot has designed the ANAFI Ai
obstacle avoidance system.
Henri Seydoux
Founder and CEO, Parrot Drones

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Flight performances
Key features
-32-minute flights
-Best-in-class input power/output power ratio (propellers: 66 % figure of merit)
-Designed for outdoor missions as well as indoor (warehouses, tunnels)
-Rotating twin sensor for obstacle avoidance
-IPX3: withstands rain and 50 km/h winds
A cool drone
By their design, ANAFI Ai and its Skycontroller 4 are a milestone for the UAV industry: the controller
does not require cumbersome cables anymore, and it enables the use of an iPad mini or all large
smartphones. It also features a HDMI output, which allows streaming videos from ANAFI Ai.
ANAFI Ai is Parrot’s new cool drone: it looks nice, it is intriguing, foldable, operational in 1 minute and
resistant to rain.
Aerodynamic performances
Maximum speed
17 m/s forward – 16 m/s backward and laterally
Wind resistance
14 m/s
Flight time
32 min
Max Climbing Speed
4m/s
Max Descent Speed
3m/s
Max practical ceiling above sea level
5,000 m
Range
22.5 km at 14 m/s without wind
Max Angular Speed
300°/s on pitch and roll axes & 200°/s on yaw axis

ANAFI Ai – © Parrot 2021 7
Actuators and aerodynamics
CFD view of an ANAFI Ai propeller blades
Designed by biomimicry, the new bio-inspired propeller blades use a leading edge similar to the
shape of the fins of humpback whales.
This allows a better propulsive efficiency. For the same rotation speed, the thrust is increased. The
effect is comparable to an enlargement of the rotor diameter.
Propellers achieve a Figure of Merit of 66%. The Figure of Merit is used as a performance indicator
of a propeller design, it can be seen as an equivalent of the efficiency. Efficiency is defined by the
ratio between input power and output power, whereas on a drone propeller we use the figure of
merit (the ratio between the input power and an “ideal power”) which is a theoretical maximum value
of power provided by a propeller of a given size.
Acoustic noise is also reduced, especially on the tonal noise coming from the leading edge.
Therefore, ANAFI Ai is quieter [71.5 dBSPL (A) at 1 m] than the Skydio 2 [76.4 dBSP (A) at 1 m].
•Flight time of more than 32minutes.
•Top speed of 17 m/s (61 km/h) in forward flight and 16 m/s (58 km/h) in lateral and backward
flight, thanks to the optimized aerodynamic performance of the body and the ANAFI Ai
powerplant.
•Wind resistance is 14 m/s (50 km/h).
•22.5 km range at 14 m/s without wind thanks to the high efficiency of the motor/propeller
torque and the high autonomy of the battery.
Following is a list of aerodynamic simulations performed in the development phase.
•Parrot designs the conversion chain using digital multiphysics simulation tools. These tools
and the Matlab numerical models developed in-house enable us to determine the drone's
performance for a given size, mass and power consumption, right from the specification
phase.
•The numerical models allow us to dimension the UAV according to the customer's needs.
•Modeling of the propulsion unit (CFD).
•Modeling of the drone body (CFD).

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CFD views of ANAFI Ai arms
Test in development phase:
•Tests carried out on the bench of the propulsion unit (engine, propellers),
•Wind tunnel tests to determine aerodynamic performance (body, propellers),
•Production test:
oAll the sub-assemblies making up the UAV are checked on the production bench.
oEvery drone undergoes a flight test before it is packed: take-off, hovering, landing.
Sensors
To ensure its safe flight, ANAFI Ai is equipped with:
-2 IMU (an ICM-40609-D and an ICM42605)
-LIS2MDL magnetometer
-UBX-M8030 GPS
-TI OPT3101 time-of-flight (ToF)
-LPS22HB barometer
-vertical camera
The ToF is responsible for providing a ground distance measurement and consists of an infrared
transmitter-receiver measuring the drone-object distance according to the round-trip time of a light
emission between the object and the onboard sensor.
The ToF has the following advantages compared to the ultrasound:
-Smaller minimum measurable distance: 10 cm versus 40 cm for the ultrasound
-Higher maximum measurable distance: 9 m for a target with IR reflectivity of 80%, against
5m for ultrasound on concrete.
-No disturbance from other close-by drones
Several calibrations are applied to the ToF to ensure the reliability of its measures:
-Crosstalk correction on each individual drone (between diode and photodiode)
-Distance offset on each individual drone (based on a known distance)
-Temperature sensitivity (compensation by a distance offset dependent on the
temperature)
-Ambient IR light sensitivity (compensation by an offset dependent on the light intensity)

ANAFI Ai – © Parrot 2021 9
ANAFI Ai is also equipped with a multidirectional depth sensing system (stereo vision) described in
the “Autonomous Flight” section.
Sensors’ characteristics
Flight IMU: ICM-40609-D
-3 axes gyroscope
-Range: ± 2000 °/s
-Resolution: 16.4 LSB/°/s
-Bias/accuracy: ± 0.05°/s (after thermal and dynamic calibration)
-3 axes accelerometer
-Range: ± 16g,
-Resolution: 2.048 LSB/mg
-Bias/accuracy: ± 0.5 mg (X-Y) ± 1 mg (Z) (after thermal and dynamic calibration)
-Temperature regulation: controlled heating system in relation to the ambient temperature,
stabilized within: ± 0.15 ° C
-Measurement frequency: 2 kHz
Magnetometer: LIS2MDL
-Range: ± 49.152 G
-Resolution: 1.5 mG
-Bias/accuracy: ± 15 mG (after compensation, at maximum motor speed)
-Measurement frequency: 100 Hz
Barometer: LPS22HB 1
-Range: 260 to 1260 hPa
-Resolution: 0.0002 hPa
-Bias/accuracy: ± 0.1 hPa
-Temperature regulation: controlled heating system in relation to the ambient temperature,
stabilized within: ± 0.2 ° C
-Frequency of measurement: 75 Hz
-Measurement noise: 20 cm RMS
GNSS: UBX-M8030 1
-Ceramic patch antenna of 25x25x4mm allowing a +2dB gain improvement compared to
ANAFI 1
-Sensitivity: cold start -148 dBm / tracking & navigation: -167 dBm
-Time-To-First-Fix: 40 seconds
-Bias/accuracy
oPosition: standard deviation 1.4 m
oSpeed: standard deviation 0.5 m/s
Vertical camera
-Sensor format: 1/6 inch
-Resolution: 640x480
-Global shutter sensor
-Black & white
-FOV: horizontal viewing angle: 53.7° / vertical viewing angle: 41.5°
-Focal length: 2.8 mm
-Optical flow ground speed measures at 60 Hz
-Point of interest calculation for accurate hovering at 15 Hz and accurate landing at 5 Hz

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ToF: TI OPT3101
-Range: 0-15 m
-Resolution: 0.3 mm
-Bias: ± 2 cm (after calibration)
-Measuring frequency: 64 Hz
Vertical camera IMU: ICM-42605
-Gyroscope 3 axes
-Range: ± 2000 °/s
-Resolution: 16.4 LSB/°/s
-Bias/accuracy: ± 0.1 °/s (after dynamic calibration)
-3-axis accelerometer
-Range: ± 16g
-Resolution: 2.048 LSB/mg
-Bias/accuracy: ± 2.0 mg (X-Y) ± 5.0 mg (Z) – after dynamic calibration
-Measuring frequency: 1 kHz
-Hardware synchronization with the vertical camera, accuracy: 1 µs
Autopilot
Key features
The ANAFI Ai flight controller offers an easy and intuitive piloting: no training is required to fly it. It
allows the automation of many flight modes (Flight Plan, Cameraman, Hand take-off, Smart RTH).
Sensor fusion algorithms combine the data from all sensors to estimate the attitude, altitude,
position and velocity of ANAFI Ai.
State estimation is essential for the proper functioning of drones. Quadrotors are by nature
unstable when the flight controller is in open loop; to pilot them easily, let alone to operate them
autonomously, it is necessary to stabilize them by closed loop control algorithms. These algorithms
compute and send to the motors the commands needed for ANAFI Ai to reach the desired
trajectories.
Estimation
ANAFI Ai estimates the states of the UAV from sensors measures via several data fusion algorithms
such as extended Kalman filters. The main estimated states are the following:
-Ground speed on x, y and z axes in drone frame, in [m/s]
-Attitude Euler angles (roll, pitch, yaw), in [rad]
-Accelerometer bias on x, y and z axes in drone frame in [m/s²]
-Gyroscope bias on x, y and z axes in drone frame in [rad/s]
-Magnetometer bias on x, y and z axes in drone frame in [mG]
-Pressure sensor bias, in [m]
-Position on x, y axes in NED frame, in [m]
-Altitude above take-off, in [m]
-Altitude above ground level, in [m]
-Wind on x, y axes in NED frame, in [m/s]
-Propulsion vector mechanical misalignment (roll, pitch)