With its autonomous deployment capabilities, rapid charging mechanics, weatherproof design, and cloud-based management system, the new DJI Dock is an innovative solution that will enable remote monitoring and unsupervised drone missions.
Although the Dock drone concept is not new, the DJI Dock represents DJI’s first foray into this exciting market and holds great promise for the future of UAS operations with less dependence on human interaction, further increasing efficiency and strengthening ROI.
With a long-term picture in mind, it allows decision-makers to start thinking about integrating a drone with Dock into their workflows.
Dronedubai.ae will help organizations in this process by offering end-to-end support and advice. Using our years of experience in the industry, our in-house technical capabilities, and our training ecosystem, we will facilitate the adoption and implementation of this drone solution in every program. The future will also undoubtedly see advances in sensor capabilities, and we will offer advice, supply, and support as the ecosystem evolves.
But in the short term, and perhaps more significantly at this stage, it allows teams to demonstrate the concept of the other core components of the DJI Dock: the M30 series drone and the DJI FlightHub 2 mission control platform.
Both are available immediately to benefit drone programs and can be used independently of the Dock.
However, they are also key elements of the DJI drone-in-a-box infrastructure: each DJI Dock houses an M30 that lands, recharges, takes off, and executes missions programmed into DJI FlightHub 2. Simply put, it is not possible to use the Dock to its full potential without the other two.
FlightHub 2 unlocks DJI Dock functionality from the cloud, allowing operators to schedule missions, create and edit flight paths, manage data collection, perform remote maintenance, and receive alerts in scenarios where the drone is unsafe to use from the dock, such as in bad weather.
Therefore, it seems prudent for organizations to adopt these two technologies early and start integrating them into their workflows before the arrival of the Dock.
First, drone programs need to be sure that the M30 series is the drone for them. Sure, it is an impressive aircraft, combining power, performance, and portability, but proof of concept is essential for any company.
The same can be said of FlightHub 2. How does this cloud-based management platform integrate with the workflows of a drone team? Does this type of approach designed to simplify program management with drones-work for any specific organization?
These are fundamental questions that can be answered and put into practice before the DJI Dock arrives.
Second, the early introduction of the DJI M30 and FlightHub 2 will allow for a smoother transition once the DJI Dock is installed.
Let’s face it, installing a ready-to-fly drone on a construction site involves many considerations: is it in the proper location? Is there access to power and Internet (Ethernet/LTE)? Is the correct legislation in place (especially as it relates to BVLOS operations or, at least in the short term, supervised VLOS flights)? Will the flights be spontaneous or planned?
There is much to think about. For this reason, being familiar with the drone and FlightHub 2 is a great advantage.
Finally, both the M30 series and FlightHub 2 are very effective solutions in themselves, designed to help corporate drone programs and simplify operations, regardless of the Dock.
The M30 series has multi-sensor capabilities, including visual, zoom, and laser rangefinder, while the M30T model benefits from the addition of a thermal sensor.
As a side note, the DJI Dock can only be used with a Dock version of the M30 series. Therefore, the current M30 series drones will not work with the ready-to-fly drone, but at this stage, they still offer good value for money and demonstrate the concept of the Dock versions of the M30 series.
Meanwhile, FlightHub 2 can immediately empower organizations, enabling them to gain real-time situational awareness, simplify communication between teams, make live annotations, and conduct route planning and mission management.
In fact, DJI’s comprehensive ground-to-cloud drone operations management software enables commercial drone teams to plan missions, transmit data and collaborate with pilots in real-time. This in turn improves situational awareness, enables better data sharing and communication, and gives mission commanders everything they need to make smarter decisions and deploy resources more effectively.
Key features include the 2.5D base map, which takes the satellite map of your area and overlays elevation data to provide a more three-dimensional idea of the environment and live annotations that support remote air-ground coordination.
Conclusions
Drone programs thrive on preparedness. And embracing the DJI Dock ecosystem is no different. In fact, being on the cutting edge is especially important when it comes to building something as revolutionary as using a docking station.
So with the Dock just a few months away, drone programs have the perfect opportunity to test the water and begin to demonstrate the M30 and FlightHub 2 concept.
After all, given the importance of the DJI M30-series drone and FlightHub 2 to the Dock’s infrastructure, it makes sense to adopt them before the Dock’s release to ensure that they integrate and are useful to each organization’s workflows.
Early adoption of this technology will provide a solid foundation for launching into a new and exciting era of the drone industry.
