Product Description¶
What’s in the box¶
Beyond Vision’s HEIFU® drone comes enclosed in a custom-made special casing, assembled to ensure the best protection of the device before it reaches you. If you receive the drone with any part missing or broken, please contact Beyond Vision immediately.
Inside the case you should find the following components:

HEIFU® drone: the drone itself. Encased with the arms folded, for easier transportation and smaller casing. The propellers are attached to the arms with rubber pieces to ensure a safer transportation. Please refer to section 2.2 for a more detailed description of the parts;
Operator control: the wireless manual drone control. Please refer to section 2.3 for a more detailed description;
High definition and depth cameras: default cameras that come assembled to the drone; The high definition allows perception for the pilot, even when performing long distance flights. The depth camera gives a 3D world perception for the UAV collision free flights.
Multispectral camera (optional): if your package includes a multispectral camera, it comes together with the drone. Please refer to section 2.4 for a more detailed description of the camera options;
Primary gimbal: included in the package, this gimbal is used to hold the high definition camera;
Secondary gimbal (optional): if your package includes an optional camera, a secondary gimbal is included in this kit. Please refer to section 2.5 for a more detailed description of the camera options;
Mounting adaptors: mechanical adaptors to enable the assembling of different accessories under the battery compartment;
Battery: high-density, heavy-duty Li-Po battery that powers up the drone;
Battery charger: main charger and cell balancing station for the Li-Po battery;
LTE Dongle: connector for a SIM card, which enables 4G connectivity;
HEIFU® Drone¶
The HEIFU® drone is part of an ecosystem that includes the beXStream® platform, local and remote communication networks and accurate positioning systems. The macro block diagram of the HEIFU® can be seen in the following figure:

Battery: a heavy-duty 22.2V, 22000mAh, Li-Po battery that powers the system;
Power Supply: power supply, having 12V, 5V and 3.3V outputs;
CPU Board: the system “brains”, based on a Nvidia module;
Flight Controller: flight controller module, which controls each of the six drone rotors;
Rotors: the rotors themselves;
GPS RTK: Positioning module, which includes an INS (Inertial Navigation System), so that the drone can know where it is, where it goes and what is its speed, with a high accuracy;
RGB Camera: Visible spectrum camera;
Depth Camera: Stereo camera pair, prepared to acquire video and a point cloud;
Multispectral Camera: multispectral camera module, so that images can be acquired in a range other than visible;
Operator Control Radio Link: wireless link to the operator control;
RTK Radio Link: wireless link to the RTK base station;
Flight Control Radio Link: wireless link to the flight controller (within a certain range, flight information can be retrieved from the flight controller;
WiFi Transceiver: WiFi Transceiver module, so that the drone can use the WiFi network (if available) to connect to the system’s web platform;
Physically, the HEIFU® drone looks like the figure below:

It is mainly composed by: * The body structure: where all the electronics are located; * Six folding arms: to hold the rotors; * Landing gear: used when the drone is not flying; * The battery compartment: to shelter the battery and a rail to hold the payload (gimbals, cameras, other…).
On the back side of the drone, one has access to the on/off button, some status indicators and the interface connectors, according to the picture below:

In detail:
On/Off Button: switches the drone on or off (this is a toggle button). Please press the button briefly to toggle between on and off. This button has a LED indicator to enable the user to check the drone status;
Safety switch: The safety switch can be used by the local user to enable/disable the drone’s safety mode. When in safety mode, the rotors are disabled ensuring that the drone doesn’t fly and the propellers don’t move, preventing accidents;
Peripheral Slots: From left to right:
Ethernet Port: enable the user to insert a Ethernet cable to the drone for Internet access.
USB Port: enable the user to connect one USB device to the drone’s CPU board.
HDMI Interface: enable the user to connect the drone to an external display.
4G SIM card slot: enable the user to insert a 4G slot to the drone for Internet access.
Battery status indicator: 4 LEDs indicate the battery current status. If all LED are on, the battery is full or close to full. If no LED is on, the battery may still have some charge, but the drone should not fly as the battery level is already very low.
Operator Control¶
Two manual flight controller can be included with the HEIFU® drone.
Herelink controller¶
The Herelink controller allows the operator to control and monitor all aspects of the drone and its operation. This includes piloting the drone, interacting with the attached camera and its gimbal, and building and tracking missions, all while providing the necessary information to ensure a safe and controlled flight, such as drone telemetry, the camera’s video feed, environmental information, and more. This can be done with a local drone within the control’s radio link range, or with a drone anywhere in the world, as long as both the drone and the controller have access to the internet. The pictures below show the front and back view of the Control, which is comprised of a touch screen, two joysticks for piloting the drone, a wheel, and 5 buttons.

The physical buttons have the following capabilities:
Power switch: switches the controllers screen on/off
A: Altitude hold mode
B: Position hold mode
Home:
C: Open and close landing gear
D: Return to launch
Top left wheel Gimbal’s pitch
Left joystick (up/down): Move forward/backward
Left joystick (left/right): Move sideways
Right joystick (up/down): Throttle control
Right joystick (left/right): Yaw control
Touch Screen Display: Displays information and provides additional actions
Charging of the controller is done through the micro-USB port.
When you open the app, you should see the following menu :

The first option « Pilot your drone » is intended for local scenarios where you are communicating through radio with a drone close to the controller. The second option is reserved for drones that are connected to the internet.
When you select the « pilot your drone » option, the following screen should appear :

By following these steps, you can ensure the drone is correctly setup to fly.
After following or skipping the preflight procedure, you will enter the monitor screen where the action starts.

This is the screen intended to help you while the drone is flying. In the background of the screen you should observe a map of the area surrounding the drone and/or the herelink controller. When the drone is outside of the current observed area, you can use the target button on the top left on the screen to center it on the drone location. The map is downloaded as you try to view it, and therefore requires a connection to the internet. In case you do not expect to have internet access at the flight location, you can download them beforehand and it will be stored in the controller for future use. To use this feature, use the information button on the top right of the screen as described in the following sections.
In the top right corner you can observe system status information:
If there is an available internet connection, a clickable icon with the weather forecast at the location of the drone. The icon will indicate if the predicted conditions are considered safe to fly or not. You can also click on the icon to see the predicted value of the parameters that are more relevant to ensure a safe flight, as seen here:

The battery level as a percentage, with the colored circles indicating if the current level is safe to fly (shown in green) or at critical level (shown in red).
The strength of the radio signal received from the drone
The number of sattelites that the GPS system is using. It is advisable to have at least 15 sattelites for intended performance.
A clickable icon that provides additional features, such as access to the preflight setup, viewing the messages sent by the drone, and the download of map sections to use while offline.
A clickable icon where you can change the settings of the map shown on the background, as well as search for locations on the map.
When you select the option to download map sections, the following screen should appear:

You can download multiple sections, even if not contiguous, to be used whenever the monitor screen is covering that area.
In the bottom bar you can observe:
The current flight mode
Whether the drone is currently armed
Vertical speed
Horizontal speed
Altitude.
The buttons on the left side of the screen are related to the drone, and allow you to:
Takeoff and land
Set waypoints on the map
Return to landing position button
The buttons on the right side of the screen allow you to interact with the currently attached camera, such as:
Swap between thermal and RGB camera
Starts and stop the video stream of the camera in a picture in picture that is draggable, and can be in full screen and back to picture in picture by double clicking on it, as seen here:
In this mode, there is an additional button on the left side that will show you on the screen only the video screen, as seen here:
You can see the interface again by double clicking anywhere on the screen.
Take a snapshot
Start or stop recording the stream as a video that is locally stored on the drone
Reveal additional buttons to control the gimbal described below
To the left of these buttons you have these additional buttons to interact with the gimbal:
A thumbstick to control where the gimbal is pointing to
Two buttons to zoom in and out
On top left icon allows you to change between the different views, where you can, respectively, monitor the drone (the page where you first start), build a misson, or calibrate it. We will now see what you can do in those pages.
When you select the mission builder, the following screen should appear:

Here you can create, edit, export and import missions.
On the left, you have 3 buttons.
The first button allows you to create missions, import/export files containing missions from a file, or import a mission from the drone.
The second button allows you to send missions to the drone, as well as send a mission and automatically start it.
The third button clears the present view of any missions.
On the right, you have a sliding window to open the edit mission menu.
Here you can change settings for the execution of the whole flight regarding altitude and flight speed, as well as edit the behaviour on each waypoint.

The calibration menu will guide you through a series of steps to ensure proper performance by the drone.

Warning
Unless in emergency, do not try to arm or disarm the rotors when in flight, as this will likely result in critical failure and drone crash!
FrSky Controller¶
This control enables a tight operator control of the drone’s movements, providing that the drone is within the control’s radio link range (approx. 1km in open-field line-of-sight) and manual mode has been selected on the drone.
The pictures below show the front and back view of the Control, together with a description of the commands that can be used to control the flight.

The following are the commands to the drone:
Power switch: switches the Control on/off;
SA : Position hold mode;
SB: Autonomous mode;
S2: Gimbal Control;
SC (up): Stabilize mode;
SC (center): Altitude Hold mode;
SC (down): Guided mode;
SD: Landing gear;
SG: Takeoff/Land command;
SH + SE (up): Arm rotors;
SH + SE (down): Disarm rotors;
J2 (up/down): Move forward/backward;
J2 (left/right): Move sideways;
J3 (up/down): Throttle control;
J3 (left/right): Yaw control;
LCD Display: Displays the Control’s user information;
Scroll button: Scrolls the menus and widgets on the LCD Display;
MENU: Goes to the Main menu or Radio Setup menu (if pressed for one second);
PAGE: Switch page button or Telemetry menu (if pressed for more than one second);
EXIT: Exit current page on LCD Display.
The other buttons and sliders are reserved for future use (professional users own setup).

The following functions can be obtained from the back of the Control:
Carrying Bar: Mechanical bar to ease the hand carry of the Control;
Mini-USB Port: Mini-USB Port to enable the connection of the Control to a PC computer to upgrade and read/write the SD memory cards and internal memory. It can also be used to charge the batteries via USB port (cable included in the kit);
Smart Port: Used for firmware upgrading of the Control;
Micro-SD Card Port: Used to store all the information recorded by the Control (SD Card not provided);
Battery Cover and Port: Used to shelter and charge the Control’s 2S Li-Ion batteries. One can charge the Li-ion batteries by using the connector on the right-hand side of the equipment.
Warning
Unless in emergency, do not try to arm or disarm the rotors when in flight, as this will likely result in critical failure and drone crash!
Payload¶
The HEIFU® Kit comes equipped with up to 4 payloads, but it is also prepared to use other cameras, depending on the purchased package. The following sub-sections describe some of the payloads that are integrated and can be used with HEIFU.
High Definition Camera¶
The RGB (or visible camera) that comes with this package is a high definition camera or equivalent. This camera enables the capture of live images in the visible spectrum with an image resolution of up to 3280 x 2464 pixels or video up to 1920 x 1080 pixels, 30 fps. The camera counts on a 3674 x 2760 mm sensor size (1/4” format).
The camera is assembled on the front of the drone, on the primary gimbal, at the battery compartment level.
Features |
Use environment: |
Indoor/Outdoor |
Ideal range: |
.3 m to 3 m |
|
Image sensor technology: |
Global Shutter |
|
Depth |
Depth technology: |
Stereoscopic |
Depth Field of View (FOV): |
87° × 58° |
|
Depth output resolution: |
Up to 1280 × 720 |
|
Minimum depth distance (Min‑Z) at max resolution: |
~28 cm |
|
Depth Accuracy: |
<2% at 2 m1 |
|
Depth frame rate: |
Up to 90 fps |
|
RGB |
RGB frame resolution: |
1920 × 1080 |
RGB sensor FOV (H × V): |
69° × 42° |
|
RGB frame rate: |
30 fps |
|
RGB sensor resolution: |
2 MP |
|
RGB sensor technology: |
Rolling Shutter |
|
Major Components |
Camera module: |
Intel RealSense Module D430 + RGB Camera |
Vision processor board: |
Intel RealSense Vision Processor D4 |
|
Physical |
Form factor: |
Camera Peripheral |
Connectors: |
USB‑C* 3.1 Gen 1* |
|
Length × Depth × Height: |
90 mm × 25 mm × 25 mm |
|
Mounting mechanism: |
|
Tip
In all packs - ‘til now
Depth Camera¶
The depth camera that makes part of the HEIFU® kit is an Intel® RealSense™ stereo camera that comprises two cameras to calculate depth and enable devices to see, interact with and learn from their environment. Stereo depth works in indoor and outdoor and in a wide variety of lighting conditions without the need for custom calibration.
This camera is assembled on the front of the drone, at the battery compartment level.
|
Tip
In all packs - ‘til now
FLIR Vue Pro™¶
Bellow you can find the FLIR Vue Pro™ Specifications:
Overview |
|
Thermal Imager |
Uncooled VOx Microbolometer |
Resolution |
640×512 |
Lens Options |
9 mm; 69° x 56° 13 mm; 45° x 37° 19 mm; 32° x 26° |
Spectral Band |
7.5 – 13.5 µm |
Full Frame Rates |
30 Hz (NTSC); 25 Hz (PAL) US only, not for Export |
Exportable Frame Rates |
7.5 Hz (NTSC); 8.3 Hz (PAL) |
Physical Attributes |
|
Size |
2.26″ x 1.75″ (57.4 x 44.4 mm) (including lens) |
Weight |
3.25-4 oz (92.1 – 113.4 g) (configuration dependent) |
Precision Mounting Holes |
Two M2x0.4 on each of two sides & bottom One 1/4-20 threaded hole on top |
Image Processing & Display Controls |
|
Image Optimization for sUAS |
Yes |
Digital Detail Enhancement |
Yes – Adjustable in GUI |
Invertable Image? |
Yes – Adjustable in GUI |
Polarity Control (black hot/whitehot) & Color Palettes |
Yes – Adjustable in GUI |
Environmental |
|
Operating Temperature Range |
-20°C to +50°C |
Non-Operating Temperature Range |
-55°C to +95°C |
Operational Altitude |
|
Tip
Available via the Pack 5 - Thermal
Insta 360 8K Pro VR¶
The insta360 Pro is a 360º VR camera equipped with six 200° lenses that record in 8K, allowing a full user’s experience. The visualization of this stream is already available at Beyond Skyline and is compatible with VR equipment (you can contact Beyond Vision for more information regarding this equipment). Furthermore, the camera has multiple functionalities and ports, and we advise you do carefully read the specific user manual of the camera. A support adapter is provided with the purchase of this equipment to mount it in HEIFU®. Due to the weight of the camera, we recommend that when using it, don’t use any more equipment to maintain the drone as light as possible for better stability.
Please see Insta360 setup for instructions on how to setup the camera’s configurations and start live streaming.
360 photos |
Maximum at 7680x3840 (8K) (real-time stitching OR post-processing stitching) |
360 videos |
Maximum at 3840x1920@30fps (4K) (real-time stitching/live streaming) Maximum at 7680x3840@30fps (8K) (post-processing stitching) |
360 3D photos |
Maximum at 7680x7680 (8K) (real-time stitching OR post-processing stitching) |
360 3D videos |
Maximum at 3840x3840@24fps (4K) (real-time stitching/live streaming) Maximum at 6400x6400@30fps (6K) (post-processing stitching) |
Lenses |
6 x F2.4 fisheye lenses |
File |
MP4, JPG, RAW |
Material |
Aluminum alloy, polycarbonate |
Sound |
Built-in mic x 4 AUX |
Dimensions |
Ø143mm |
Weight |
1228g |
Storage |
SD card USB3.0 High-Speed driver |
Interface |
HDMI 2.0 Type-D (for the monitoring and output of footage) RJ45 Ethernet interface (for stable cable communication) USB Type-C (for high-speed file transfer) |
Battery |
5100mAh removable battery (with 75 min of endurance) 12V 5A DC adapter |
Live streaming |
Up to 3840x3840 (4K) at 24fps H264 video coding and 3840x1920 (4K) at 30fps H264 video coding on any 360-supporting platform, including Facebook and YouTube |
Tip
Available with Pack 6 – all around
Micasense RedEdge MX¶
Some applications demand high-resolution pictures in ranges other than visible. For those applications, the HEIFU® drone can come equipped with a Micasense RedEgde MX camera, which can capture images in near-IR (842nm center, 57nm bandwidth), red edge (717nm center, 12nm bandwidth), blue (475nm center, 32nm bandwidth), green (560nm center, 27nm bandwidth) and red (668nm center, 16nm bandwidth) spectral bands. This camera comprises a global shutter, aligned with all bands and can capture up to one 12-bit resolution sample per second in all band RAW.
The multispectral camera is assembled to the secondary gimbal on the lower part of the drone, below the battery compartment.
Weight |
231.9 g (8.18 oz.) (includes DLS 2 and cables) |
Dimensions |
8.7cm x 5.9cm x 4.54cm (3.4in x 2.3in x 1.8in) |
External Power |
4.2 V DC - 15.8 V DC 4 W nominal, 8 W peak |
Spectral Bands |
Blue, green, red, red edge, near-IR (global shutter, narrowband) |
Wavelength (nm) |
Blue (475 nm center, 32 nm bandwidth), green (560 nm center, 27 nm bandwidth), red (668 nm center, 14 nm bandwidth), red edge (717 nm center, 12 nm bandwidth), near-IR (842 nm center, 57 nm bandwidth) |
RGB Color Output |
Global shutter, aligned with all bands |
Ground Sample Distance (GSD) |
8 cm per pixel (per band) at 120 m (~400 ft) AGL |
Capture Rate |
1 capture per second (all bands), 12-bit RAW |
Interfaces |
Serial, 10/100/1000 ethernet, removable Wi-Fi, external trigger, GPS, SDHCField of View47.2° HFOV |
Triggering Options |
Timer mode, overlap mode, external trigger mode (PWM, GPIO, serial, and Ethernet options), manual capture mode |
Tip
Available with Pack 7 - Multispectral
Micasense Altum-PT¶
Weight |
460 g (16.2 oz.) Altum-PT + DLS2 |
Dimensions |
11.0 x 8.0 x 6.9 cm (4.3 in x 3.1 in x 2.7 in) |
External Power |
7.0 V - 25.2 V |
Power Input |
5.5/7.0/10W (standby, average, peak) |
Sensor Resolution |
2064 x 1544 (3.2MP per MS band) 4112 x 3008 (12MP per PAN band) 320 × 256 thermal infrared |
Spectral Bands |
Blue 475(32), Green 560(27), Red 668(14), Red Edge 717(12), NIR 842(57) |
RGB Color Output |
12.4 MP (global shutter, aligned with all bands) |
Thermal |
FLIR LWIR thermal infrared 7.5-13.5um radiometrically calibrated |
Multispec GSD (per multispec band) |
5.28 cm per pixel at 120 m |
Thermal GSD |
33.5 cm per pixel at 120 m |
Panchro & Pansharpened GSD |
2.49 cm per pixel at 120 m |
Capture Rate |
2 capture per second raw DNG* |
Interfaces |
3 configurable GPIO: select from trigger input, PPS input, PPS output, and top of frame signals. Host virtual button. USB 2.0 port for WiFi. Serial. 10/100/1000 Ethernet. CFexpress for storage |
Field of View |
50° HFOV x 38° VFOV (multispectral) 46° HFOV x 35° VFOV (panchromatic) 48o x 39o (thermal) |
Storage |
CFexpress Card |
Tip
Available with Pack 8 - Multispectral
LIDAR Velodyne Puck Lite¶
Sensor: |
|
Laser: |
|
Mechanical/ Electrical/ Operational |
|
Output: |
|
Tip
Lidar (subject to short future comments)
G20Z36S-H 36x zoom Global Shutter¶
|
Tip
Pack 11 – Surveillance 1
EH640 30x Optical Zoom + IR Thermal¶
General Specifications |
|
Working voltage |
12-25 Vdc |
Power consumption |
8,4 Watt |
Weight |
975 g |
Memory card type (single slot available; not built-in memory) |
Micro SD: máximum 128 Gb |
Size |
166 x 115 x 184 (mm) |
Video out |
Ethernet |
Sbus |
Support (controlled by Wince) |
Display and control terminal |
Windows PC |
Video output resolution |
White light camera 720 x 1080 (pix) Thermal camera 640 x 480 (pix) |
Environmental specifications |
|
Working temperature |
-10oC to 45 oC |
Storage temperature |
-20oC to 70 oC |
Gimbal parameter |
|
Accuracy |
+/- 0,008o |
Mounting type |
Detachable |
Range of control angle |
Pitch: +70° to -90°; Yaw: ±160° |
Structure design angle |
Pitch: +750 to -100°; Yaw ;±1750; RoH: +90° to - 500 |
Max. Control speed |
Pitch: 120’/s; Yaw: 180°/s |
Camera specifications |
|
White light camera |
|
Sensor |
CMOS: 1f2.8’ Total pixels: 2.3 MP |
Lens |
30x optical zoom lens F: 4.7 to 141mm Minimum object distance: 1m – 1,5m Field angle (horizontal): 60° – 2,3° |
Image storage format |
JPG |
Video storage format |
MP4 |
Working mode |
REC; PIC |
Fog-penetrating method |
Electronic fog penetration |
Exposure mode |
Auto |
HD Video |
1920 x l080 pix; 25 fps (default) |
Range |
1-50 fps (adjustable by web page “Camera” |
2D Denoise |
Support (auto) |
3D Denoise |
Support (auto) |
Shutter speed |
1/3 to 1/30000s |
Exposure |
Automatic |
OSD |
Support |
Point to zoom |
Support |
Zoom range |
1-30x optical zoom |
One-key to no-zoom |
Support |
Tip
Available with Pack 12 – Surveillance 2
Q30F 30x Optical Zoom¶
General Specifications |
|
Working voltage |
12-16 Vdc |
Power consumption |
≤ 5,4 Watt |
Dynamic current |
450mA @ 12Vdc |
Idle current |
330mA @ 12V |
Local storage |
SD card (Up to 32G, class 10, FAT32 or ex FAT format) |
Size |
166 x 115 x 184 (mm) |
Video out |
Mini HDMI; (HD output 1080P 60fps): Analog |
Control method |
PWM / TTL |
Environmental specifications |
|
Working temperature |
-20oC to 50 oC |
Storage temperature |
-20oC to 70 oC |
Gimbal parameter |
|
Pitch/Tilt |
±90° |
Roll |
±85° |
Yaw/Pan |
±150° |
Vibration angle |
Pitch/Roll: ±0.02°, Yaw:±0.03° |
One-key to centre |
Support |
Camera specifications |
|
Sensor |
1/3inch CMOS Total pixels: 4 MP Effective pixel: 2688 x 1520 |
Dynamic range |
65dB |
Lens |
5MP |
Optical zoom |
30x, F=4.5~135mm |
Min object distance |
1,5 m |
Viewing angle |
|
Focus |
66.6°(wide end) ~ 7.2°(tele end) |
Sync system |
Progressive scanning |
Local video |
1080P 30fps local TF card |
HD output |
1080P/720/480P 60fps HDMI1.4 |
AV output |
Standard CVBS 1Vp-p |
S/N ratio |
38dB |
Min illumination |
Colour 0.05lux@F1.6 |
Backlight compensation |
Backlight compensation/strong light inhibition |
Gain |
Auto |
White balance |
Auto/Manual |
Shutter speed |
Auto |
Control system |
UART/IR/PWM |
Communication protocol |
PELCO-D, Hitachi protocol or VISCA |
Focus |
Auto/Manual/One-time automatic focus |
Focus speed |
2 s |
Lens initialization |
Built-in |
User pre-setting bit |
20 sets |
Image rotation |
180°, Horizontal/Vertical mirror image |
Photo format |
JPEG |
Video format |
MP4 |
OSD |
Not supported |
Dimensions |
|
Net weight |
670g |
Dimensions |
121 x 147 x 154.8 mm |
One-key to no-zoom |
Support |
Note
If you need cameras other than the ones described above, please contact Beyond Vision in order to confirm if it is possible to integrate them in the drone.
Gimbals¶
The HEIFU® drone comes equipped with one gimbal for stable operation of the high definition camera. This gimbal is assembled on the front of the drone, near the battery compartment. A second gimbal can be assembled below the battery compartment by using one of the mounting adapters supplied with the HEIFU® drone kit. A suitable gimbal can be purchased from Beyond Vision as an add-on to the kit or can be purchased from a third-party providing it complies with the specifications. Gimbal control: Servo.
beXStream® platform¶
If you purchased a beXStream® platform license, you were given a login to access the application either by using a web browser or by using a Windows/Ubuntu/iOS app. You can register and access the application by using this login and accessing the web address: https://bexstream.beyond-vision.pt or by downloading and installing the beXStream App on your PC.