DJI has introduced the Dock 4, its first automated battery-swapping drone dock. Instead of waiting roughly 30 minutes to recharge, the dock swaps a depleted battery in 25 seconds, and DJI claims the drone can be back in the air within 45 seconds of touchdown. The dock charges two 260 Wh battery packs at once, taking about 27 minutes to bring each from 15% to 95%, and the packs can also provide backup power for roughly 4.5 hours each if grid power fails.
The Dock 4 is designed for emergency-response scenarios, which DJI markets as "dock-as-a-first-responder." It is compatible only with the Matrice 5TD drone, which features three 50 MP cameras, a thermal sensor, a laser rangefinder, and obstacle detection with rotating LiDAR and mmWave radar. The drone can fly for almost an hour in forward flight and operates in temperatures from -40°C to 50°C. The previous Dock 3's Matrice 4TD had lower-resolution thermal imaging, a shorter telephoto lens, and a narrower operating temperature range.
The hardware kit—including the Dock 4, Matrice 5TD, and O4 Ground Station—is being offered by DJI partners in China for 167,999 yuan, or about $25,000. However, the system is not FCC-authorized and is not for sale in the United States. DJI's spec sheet lacks FCC figures, likely because the FCC added foreign-made drones and their components to its Covered List in December, and new models cannot receive authorization unless the Department of War or Department of Homeland Security grants an exemption. DJI has sued the FCC over the restriction, and a separate FCC proposal could also pull previously authorized drones with LiDAR or thermal sensors from sale.