DJI Dock 4 And DJI Matrice 5TD: Everything You Need To Know

The DJI Dock 4 is DJI's newest drone-in-a-box system, built around the new Matrice 5TD. If you're weighing up an automated drone programme, here's what's changed and why it matters.

Battery swapping cuts downtime to seconds

The biggest change is how the DJI Dock 4 turns the drone around. Operators asked DJI for less downtime between flights, so instead of waiting for the drone to recharge, the dock now swaps its battery.

• Instead of waiting around 27 minutes for a recharge (15% to 95%), the drone gets a 25-second battery swap, with a full turnaround of about 45 seconds.
• It's a four-battery system. One battery powers the drone while it flies, and the other three stay in the dock.
• Two of those three charge, ready for when the drone returns, and the third supports the dock itself.
• The dock always loads the most charged battery next.

For security patrols and emergency response, that means the drone is back in the air almost straight away.

Built for tough sites

The dock is rated IP56 and the drone IP55 (IP ratings measure protection against dust and water). It's designed to work from -40°C to 50°C and uses anti-icing materials for winter operations. The dock is slightly taller than before but keeps the same chassis, and DJI has improved its vibration testing for vehicle-mounted setups.

Matrice 5TD flight performance

There's just one aircraft, the Matrice 5TD, with no separate D version. Note that it isn't a standalone drone like the Matrice 4TD. There's no remote controller, so it only flies from the dock.

• Maximum flight time of 59 minutes, with around 48 minutes of practical operating time
• FlyTo speeds of up to 21 m/s, reaching a target 3 km away in under three minutes
• A 450 g payload capacity that supports the DJI speaker, spotlight and parachute
• Up to three accessories fitted at once on the sides

The lights are now customisable too, so you can add red and blue flashing lights. Green lights are still needed for night flying.

Cameras and sensing

The payload combines a super telephoto camera, a medium telephoto camera and a thermal camera:

• 11x optical zoom and up to 176x digital zoom
• A 1280 x 1024 thermal camera, with thermal overlay on the visual cameras
• A laser rangefinder with a range of up to 3 km
• Number plates readable from 400 m

The cameras use an RYYB sensor (red, yellow, yellow, blue, rather than the usual RGB), which lets in around 40% more light. Combined with faster shutter speeds, that gives clearer images at night. Panoramas are also 2.4x faster, taking about 32 seconds to map a whole area.

For obstacle avoidance, a LiDAR-based sensing module on top now sees in colour and can detect wires as thin as 11 mm. Two fisheye sensors on the front corners add extra coverage.

Connectivity and live collaboration

Two built-in 4G dongles keep the drone connected, and sky-to-screen latency is just 160 ms. A hard-wired O4 ground station extends range to up to 40 km, and sub-2GHz radio across 19 frequency bands supports police operations.

AI can recognise 17 types of objects, including vehicles, fire and smoke. Co-pilot streamlines data in and out, and through the DJI app you can annotate a live stream to alert the pilot or control room. You can also stream from your phone back to FlightHub for two-way live streaming.

Safety features

• A built-in parachute. If the pilot triggers it, or the drone detects an anomaly or breaches a geofence, the motors stop and the parachute deploys. The drone then flashes its lights and drops a pin on the map.
• Real-time altitude alerts.
• Air-to-air Remote ID detection. If an aircraft broadcasting Remote ID passes nearby, the mission pauses and resumes once the airspace is clear.

DJI includes a free first year of DJI Care Enterprise Plus, and Coptrz can help you plan, install and run a Dock 4 programme for your site.

FAQs

How fast does the DJI Dock 4 swap batteries?

The swap takes about 25 seconds, with a full turnaround of around 45 seconds.

Can the Matrice 5TD fly without the dock?

No. It has no remote controller and only operates from the DJI Dock 4.

How long can the Matrice 5TD fly?

Up to 59 minutes at most, with around 48 minutes of practical operating time.

Final thoughts

Ready to automate your operations? Explore the DJI Dock 4 and DJI Matrice 5TD at Coptrz.