If you ask someone with even the slightest knowledge of drones about the most important DJI device, they will probably pronounce names like the Mavic series or the Phantom. And it makes sense. However, the brand right now has a product in its hands that almost nobody knows about but that, nevertheless, could have a similar significance to that of both products. I mean the DJI Dock.
The Dock, for those who do not know it, it is not a drone. It is, as its name suggests, a base. And it has a double function: on the one hand, it safeguards the aircraft when it is not working, recharging its battery, extracting data from it if necessary, protecting it from the outside, etc. On the other hand, the DJI Dock acts as an intermediary in the operation of the ship, making it possible to remotely control it or observe what its camera captures even thousands of kilometers away.
This product was originally presented in March of this year, but it has not been until now, during DJI Airworks –the annual conference organized by DJI– when he has shown it publicly. What if: hypertextual has been present to meet him.
Why is the DJI Dock so relevant?
The relevance of the DJI Dock lies in the possibilities that this unlocks more than in the product itself. In a way, it is the key that unlocks a better future for drones.
An example: yes a fire department wants to use drones to monitor fire-prone areas During the summer, you have two options:
- That a team from the department travel to the desired location and, from there, pilot the drone to monitor a certain radius.
- Take off the drone from the fire station and pilot it to the desired area.
Both options have drawbacks, though they all boil down to a lack of efficiency and convenience.
- The first option involves wasting time traveling to the right place, slowing down the response to an emergency. It also implies fuel consumption to be able to go to the right place and harm the productivity of your team members, since they waste more time having to travel than operating from the point where they are.
- The second option has a clear drawback: the autonomy and range of the drone. If the area you want to monitor is at X distance, you have to fly the ship there. A displacement that implies an energy consumption. Energy that could be used to monitor an upper area if the aircraft did not have to move to that point.
With the DJI Dock, the story would be different. If that same fire department installs different DJI Docks at strategic points in the region they supervise, they can reach points of interest faster, not sacrifice part of the autonomy of the drone by having to move, etc.. This makes even more sense if we are talking about areas that are difficult to access or larger regions.
this example can be expanded to many other cases. Imagine a solar plant that is periodically monitored by drones. Or several hectares of cultivation. The pilot would not have to go to these places periodically. With a DJI Dock, you could control the aircraft remotely, from a unified control center located anywhere on the planet.
The DJI Dock therefore is a key and even revolutionary product, as it opens the door to the automation of hundreds of tasks using drones. As I said: that a fire department can constantly monitor an entire mountain range during the summer months to prevent fires or act more quickly is something truly transcendental that even saves lives. A process that would otherwise either not be possible at all, or would be prohibitively expensive.
How does the DJI Dock work?
The DJI Dock is a large box. That is the most basic definition. It weighs about 90 kg, has a square shape and its sides measure between 80 and 90 centimeters each. That is to say: it occupies something less than a square meter.
It consumes a maximum of 1,500 watts, can operate between -35ºC and 50ºC and has a 12 Ah capacity emergency battery, in case the power goes out, which translates into just over 5 hours of use. . It can also work even in the rain.
The product has Ethernet connectivity up to 1 Gbps, as well as multiple sensors: wind, rain, vibration, etc. It also has a security camera with Full HD resolution that allows you to monitor what is happening in the surroundings.
To exchange video with the drone, DJI Dock uses O3 Enterprise technology. But, as he said, the Dock is nothing more than an intermediary. That stream of information is redirected through the internet to the place where the pilot is. And the company ensures that the latency is low enough to be able to operate the aircraft without any problem.
Inside, the DJI Dock also has two interesting components: an RTK module and an expansion bay for edge computing. Thanks to this bay, DJI Dock buyers can install a module that performs tasks locally instead of transmitting all raw files to a remote server. For example: pre-process media files before sending them to a cloud storage system via the internet to speed up the transfer process. This is key if a high volume of data is to be handled or the connection available at the location where the dock is located has limited bandwidth.
The DJI Dock, at the moment, is intended to store a DJI Matrice 30. A drone that, fully charged, can fly for 40 minutes and up to 7 kilometers away from the DJI Dock. An interesting fact is that the Dock regulates the internal temperature to cool down the drone’s batteries and be able to charge them faster. The brand promises to go from 10 to 90% in 25 minutes. Therefore, the periods in which the aircraft is not operational are shorter.
It will arrive in 2023
A key factor in the operation of this drone is the FlightHub 2 suite. From this platform it is possible to control the status of the drones or the Dock, inspect the data captured by the aircraft (both by its camera and by any additional sensor installed on it), program automated tasks, etc. All this, from anywhere on the planet (as long as you have an internet connection).
Multiple developers, in addition, they plan to make developments to embrace the DJI Dock. Therefore, complementary platforms will also end up taking advantage of this product, which can certainly have great relevance in terms of the use of drones in professional and industrial environments, etc.
The DJI Dock, originally, would be available at the end of 2022but it will actually do so in 2023. The price for which the product will go on sale has not yet been finalized.