Press Release June 2013

Parrot establishes itself on the civil drones market

More than half a million AR.Drone1 units sold worldwide A commitment to the market of ultra light civil professional drones
The professional applications of drone technologies will impact a large number of industries: from the journalistic usage for covering news, to the inspection of infrastructures, including environmental applications or precision farming, the potential is incredibly promising. Driven by the success of the AR.Drone range, consumer drones which have sold more than half a million units around the world since 2010, Parrot confirmed its entry into the world of professional drones with the acquisition of the majority stake (57%) of Swiss company senseFly in 2012. A consistent expansion in the professional arena, Parrot is building on its success in the retail drone market.

AR.Drone, the intuitive and hyper high-tech drone toy

In January 2010, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Parrot made a noteworthy entry in the world of drones with the AR.Drone, a quadricopter piloted via Wi-Fi with a Smartphone, and equipped with two embedded cameras. Two years later, Parrot introduced the AR.Drone 2.0, a natural evolution: more stylish, more robust, more stable, plus even more high-tech The common point of the two: pleasure. The immediate pleasure of flying, easily without learning. The AR.Drone is a sophisticated device, full of technology and sensors. An accessible high-tech dream, designed for the masses. If the stability of the AR.Drone, aimed at recreational usage only, surprised professional pilots of helicopters and more hardcore enthusiasts, this non-standard quadricopter started a revolution in the toy world, and met with a large public. The proof is in that more than half a million AR.Drone / AR.Drone 2.0 have been sold around the world since Spring 2010.

An embraced expansion into the professional market

It is the quality of the components and imaging of the AR.Drone that make this quadricopter much more than a simple fun object. Pushing engineering and open imagination to the next level is Parrots daily challenge. Its commitment to the market of professional civil drones is one demonstration by it. Henri Seydoux, founder and CEO of Parrot said: I am convinced that high-tech companies are the ones who will make civil drones evolve and progress. Mechanics and physics are important of course, but what is making and will make the difference is software. We have been working on this subject for many years and we are today the leader of the micro-drone market thanks to our acquisition of the majority stake of senseFly. With a low operational cost, fast and accurate results and a good robustness to weather conditions, professional civil drones are spreading to many different fields including: Mapping of construction sites, natural or urban land, mines and quarries Inspection of transportation and telecommunications infrastructure Monitoring of industrial sites (factories, power plants, pipelines ...) Management of farmland, livestock farming and environment protection (protected species, migrations, etc.) Pictures of real estate projects (construction, marketing)
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AR.Drone and AR.Drone 2.0

 Civil protection and crisis management (industrial accident or natural disaster)

eBee, an ultra light civil professional drone

The latest solution offered by senseFly is: Fixed-wing drone of less than 700 grams equipped with a high-definition picture camera (16 MP) and an integrated proprietary autopilot; Intuitive planning and control software (including 3D flight planning and multiple drones operation); Professional photogrammetry software processing aerial imagery into accurate geo-referenced 2D or 3D maps. Hyper-light, with less than one meter wingspan and a flight time of around 45 minutes, more than 60 senseFly drones are manufactured and sold every month, with accurate mapping being their main usage. For example, the mapping of the forest of Tanoe and palm plantations in Nouamou (50km of Ghana) enabled people to visualize the extent of the plantation sites, and allowed to determine the remaining forest in this zone. It also enabled botanists to identify tree varieties as this bog forest is hardly accessible.

Forest and oil palm culture in Nouamou.

Reserve of Lamto (Savanna): mapping used to classify and count specific species of plants.

The complementary technological expertise of Parrot and senseFly (who just received authorization from DGAC in France), and the exchanges of engineers between the two entities will make the development of new generations of ultra-light civil micro-drones possible, and the entry into a new era of aerial imagery.

Pix4D, the 3D aerial digital mapping program

With a recognized know-how in low altitude aerial image processing, Pix4D develops advanced image processing algorithms, making it possible to analyse and combine thousands of aerial images to create 2D geo-referenced maps and build 3D models of the environment they depict. Pix4D which benefited from a financial investment of Parrot Group, is pursuing its R&D efforts by collaborating with industrial partners as well as EPFL in research projects supported by the Swiss government. Pix4Ds clients include the major manufacturers of professional UAVs, among which is senseFly, a Parrot company. ***
For more information, visit www.parrot.com About Parrot Parrot, a global leader in wireless devices for mobile phones, stands on the cutting edge of innovation. The company was founded in 1994 by Henri Seydoux as part of his determination to drive the inevitable breakthrough of mobile phones into everyday life by creating high-quality, user-friendly wireless devices for easy living. Parrot

has developed the most extensive range of hands-free systems on the market for cars. Its globally recognised expertise in the fields of mobile connectivity and multimedia around Smartphones has positioned Parrot as a key player of in-car infotainment. Additionally, Parrot designs and markets a prestigious line of high-end wireless multimedia products in collaboration with some of the worlds most well-renowned designers. Finally, Parrot is expanding on the UAV market with the Parrot AR.Drone, the first quadricopter piloted via Wi-Fi and using augmented reality and so with new solutions to address the UAV market for professional use. Parrot, headquartered in Paris, currently employs more than 800 people worldwide and generates the majority of its sales overseas. Parrot is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris since 2006. (FR0004038263 PARRO) More information: www.parrot.com / www.ardrone.com / www.parrotoem.com

About senseFly senseFly Ltd is a Swiss company based in Ecublens and member of the Parrot Group since summer 2012. The company was founded at the end of 2009 as a spin-off of the EPFL*-based Laboratory of Intelligence Systems, a leading research organization in robotics and artificial intelligence. senseFly develops, assembles and markets autonomous mini-drones and related software solutions for civil professional applications such as accurate mapping of mining sites, quarries, forests, construction sites, crops, etc. senseFly holds several patents in the field of aerial robotics. http://www.sensefly.com

About Pix4D With over ten years of leading scientific research and founded in 2011, Pix4D has become the main provider for professional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) processing software. Started as a spin-off of the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne) Computer Vision Lab in Switzerland, Pix4D is a dynamic and rapidly expanding company. Pix4D is pursuing its R&D efforts by collaborating with EPFL as well as other industrial partners in research projects supported by the Swiss government. Pix4D is the leading provider of image processing software and its products include a desktop software package as well as a general cloud computing service called Pix4uav. Pix4D sells its products to both UAV manufacturers for bundling and directly to surveying, mining, farming, mining, construction and exploration companies that need to create a timeline of 3D maps (ie 4D mapping). Pix4D's clients already include the United Nations, global mining companies and local surveying companies all over the world as well as UAV manufacturers such as senseFly, Aeryon Lbs, Gatewing, Smartplanes, and Mavinci for whom Pix4D creates bundled or dedicated software packages. The company is supported by the Swiss government (CTI/KTI) and has already won several innovation and startup competitions (Venture Kick, MICS spin-fund, IMD) and the attention of a number of major players in the geospatial and mapping industry. http://www.pix4d.com