DJI Dock 3 & Matrice 4D First Look – A More Rugged Autonomous System

You can tell that DJI’s dock system for their drones is maturing as a product line when you look at the improvements made between the Dock 2, which has been in service for about a year now, and the brand-new DJI Dock 3. If you recall, DJI took their first swing at a drone-in-a-box solution back in 2022 with their initial dock that housed the Matrice 30 and 30T. This was a larger unit that showcased their vision for an autonomous future, but it was completely rebuilt from the ground up with the second-generation Dock 2.

The Dock 2 featured a smaller form factor and dramatically simplified the experience. A brand-new drone, the Matrice 3D and 3TD, was developed with fixed arms that sat high above the drone to ensure a seamless dock landing experience with no moving parts necessary. It would just slot itself into place and begin charging from the inductive plate on the bottom. After that massive redesign, DJI has found a winning formula as the DJI Dock 3 builds upon what they’ve learned with the Dock 2, making it a more robust system that can operate in colder winters, hotter summers, and windier conditions.

Design and Features of Dock 3

You can tell right away that the design of the Dock 3 is similar, with a slightly larger form factor at 55 kg compared to the 34 kg of the Dock 2. The drone that goes inside, the Matrice 4D, has a similar-style airframe but is also larger to fit the bigger dock and features a payload that resembles the Matrice 4T. The actual maximum takeoff weight has a slight variance, with the M3D allowing for up to 1.61 kg and the M4D allowing for up to 2.05 kg. The differences between the Dock 2 and Dock 3 show just how robust DJI has made this new system, with a wider range of operating temperatures from -30°C to +50°C, a better ingress protection rating for the dock at IP56, and the ability to land in higher wind speeds at 12 m/s.

Performance Enhancements

Faster charging times and improved electronic components make this a more reliable dock that can be used in more scenarios. The Matrice 4D and 4T, on the other hand, are some of the smartest drones DJI has made, with highly capable payloads, new autonomous flight modes, intelligent detection features, increased flight time, and an overall improved control base from DJI FlightHub 2, making data collection efficient and intuitive.

Regulatory Challenges

Now, here’s the thing: local rules and regulations are going to hinder your usage of the Dock 3 to its fullest potential—or really any drone-in-a-box system for that matter—unless you have the necessary safety components. If you have a drone docked on a construction site, on a rooftop, in an urban area around critical infrastructure, or in a completely remote area, chances are you’re going to want that drone to fly completely autonomously with no human interaction. You don’t want to have someone on site as a visual observer watching the drone. You might be in a position where the drone needs to fly over people on the ground. These are scenarios that are illegal without proper approvals from your local government.

Safety Solutions

This means that for the proper usage of a fully autonomous system like the Dock 3, you’ll need to have a parachute system on top of your drone, which AVSS has in development for the Matrice 4D and 4TD, both of which fit inside the Dock 3, just like the AVSS parachute design for the previous drones used in the Dock 2. The parachute for the M4D for the DJI Dock 3 sits on top of the drone and interfaces with the firmware through the PSDK port. This allows it to communicate with the drone to immediately stop the motors in the event of an aircraft failure, which is a vital part of the process. Without the flight termination system, the spinning motors could sever the line holding the parachute. For users in the USA and Canada, AVSS’s parachute will enable flight over people and will be a category drone for those in Europe. The AVSS parachute will also enable C5 and C6 compliance with MOC 2512 and MOC 2511. Furthermore, AVSS will be offering a standalone C6 FTS for STS-02 standard scenarios, which enables BVLOS operations.

Practical Integration

What’s great about the design of the parachute recovery system and the standalone FTS is how it sits on top of the drone and can stay indefinitely mounted to the Matrice 4D or 4T. It really becomes a part of the system and won’t need to be constantly removed and reinstalled unless you need to transport or service the drone.

Use Cases and Compliance

Let’s think about the use cases of the Dock 3 and, really, a drone-in-a-box solution in general. For me, I would love to leave this mounted at a construction site to provide constant aerial photos and videos of the progression of the job to my client. To efficiently accomplish this, I would set an autonomous mission to be completed on a routine basis without me being on site or controlling the drone. Therefore, it would be a must that I have an AVSS parachute to comply with my local government’s rules and regulations. Utility companies that want to monitor their infrastructure could keep the Dock 3 in some of the most remote areas with as harsh conditions as you can imagine, thanks to the improvements made to the Dock 3. But guess what? They also need an AVSS parachute to comply with laws. Law enforcement agencies that are looking to plant docks around their city, town, or county for dispatching to incidents will also need this parachute if they plan on flying out of line of sight and above people.

So, I think you get it by now. If you want god take full advantage of the Dock 3 to place this in a remote area to fly out of line of sight or over people, you need to make sure that the drone inside has an AVSS parachute on it so that you stay compliant and fly safely.

thanks for watching this video and I’ll see you in the next one. Peace!