DJI Matrice 5T: Everything You Need to Know

DJI’s Matrice 5T brings sharper thermal imaging, longer reach and extra safety sensing to its portable enterprise range. If you run inspection, search and rescue or public safety work, here’s what’s new and what it means for your operations.

Thermal and night vision that see more

The DJI Matrice 5T’s camera payload is built for spotting small details in poor light.

• A 1280 x 1024 thermal camera, with a 2560 x 2048 super-resolution mode
  
• A 1/0.98-inch wide camera with full-colour night vision down to 0.01 lux (lux is a measure of light level)
  
• An 11x telephoto camera with black-and-white night vision, and up to 176x hybrid zoom
  
• A 3x medium telephoto camera that can pick out cracks from 10 m

For inspection teams, that means finding smaller hot spots and defects without flying closer to the asset.

Reach further with laser ranging

The laser rangefinder measures up to 3 km head-on and 1.2 km at an angle. Spot a target, press L3 on the controller to mark it, and the location is shared straight away. You can also draw lines and polygons on screen, for example to measure the length and area of a wildfire front.

Transmission combines sub-2GHz, relay and dual 4G links for up to 40 km of range. That’s a maximum under ideal conditions, and UK flights still need to follow CAA rules on visual line of sight.

Safer flying in busy airspace

The Matrice 5T combines several types of sensor, so it can spot hazards a camera alone might miss. Its 360° LiDAR detects wires from 32 m away, a real help near power lines and rail infrastructure. Millimetre-wave (mmWave) radar faces forwards, up and down, and uses radio waves rather than light, so it keeps working in rain, fog and low light. Omnidirectional colour vision covers the rest.

Built-in ADS-B and Remote ID receivers alert you to nearby crewed aircraft and drones, which helps at busy incident scenes. An IP55 rating protects against dust and water jets, so a passing shower doesn’t have to stop the job.

Onboard AI and mapping

The Matrice 5T recognises more than 20 object types, including people and clothing colours, vehicle and vessel types, animals, smoke and fire. It analyses visible and thermal imagery side by side, and open onboard computing lets you add third-party models and Pilot 2 plugins.

It doubles as a mapping drone too. The wide camera is time-synchronised for accurate photo position data, giving centimetre accuracy without ground control points (GCPs). In-flight modelling turns 200 photos into a map on the remote controller in around 8 minutes.

Built for rescue, maritime work and long shifts

• Take-off and landing on stationary or moving vessels, at speeds below 10 knots
  
• A new AS2 speaker, broadcasting up to 400 m with five colours of strobe light
  
• A new AL2 spotlight with flood and spot modes that tilts upwards to light structures from below
  
• A 215.2 Wh battery, a maximum flight time of 59 minutes and a 515 W actively cooled charging hub for continuous three-battery operation
  
• Airborne around 10 seconds after power-on, with a top speed of 23 m/s

FAQs

What is the DJI Matrice 5T?

The Matrice 5T is DJI’s new portable enterprise thermal drone, built for inspection, search and rescue and public safety work.

How far can the Matrice 5T’s laser rangefinder measure?

Up to 3 km head-on and 1.2 km at an angle.

Can the DJI Matrice 5T take off from a boat?

Yes. It can take off from and land on stationary or moving vessels travelling below 10 knots, in winds below 5 m/s.

How long can the DJI Matrice 5T fly?

Up to 59 minutes on a single battery, as a maximum in ideal conditions.

Can the Matrice 5T detect nearby aircraft and drones?

Yes. Built-in ADS-B and Remote ID receivers alert you to nearby crewed aircraft and other drones.

Final thoughts

Planning your next thermal drone programme? Discover the DJI Matrice 5T at Coptrz.