Operating scenarios for Dock 4
DJI names six uses for Dock 4: first response, infrastructure inspection, overnight security, surveying, rescue and remote sites. In each one, the battery swap replaces a recharge between flights. The bars show airborne minutes per hour for a typical flight in each scenario, computed from DJI's charge and flight times (method in section 02).
Dock 2, Dock 3 and Dock 4 compared
Figures from DJI's spec sheets for each dock and its aircraft. The biggest change is what happens between flights: Dock 2 and Dock 3 recharge their one battery inside the aircraft, while Dock 4 replaces it with a charged one. The hour view below shows what that does to flying time.
One hour at the dockRecharge the battery in the aircraft, or swap it for a charged one
- Flying
- On the pad: battery charging in the aircraft
- On the pad: battery swap, landing to take-off under 45 s
- Lower strip: charge of the battery in the aircraft, 0 to 100 %
- Dock 2 and Dock 3 have one battery. It stays in the aircraft. After every flight the aircraft waits on the pad while the dock recharges it: 27 min from 15 to 95 % on Dock 3, 32 min from 20 to 90 % on Dock 2.
- Dock 4 has four batteries. One is in the aircraft and three wait in compartments. After landing, the dock pulls the used battery out of the tail and pushes a charged one in. The swap takes under 25 s; landing to take-off, under 45 s.
- The used battery charges while the aircraft flies. Two charging channels each take a battery from 15 to 95 % in 27 min. In this model a charged battery is ready at every landing, at every flight length on the slider.
How the strips are worked out: a flight drains the battery at the hover rate (100 % divided by the maximum hover time, per minute). Dock 2 and Dock 3 put that charge back at DJI's published charging speed, plus 20 s for landing and closing the cover. Dock 4 spends 45 s on the pad per landing. Each strip is one hour from a long day of back-to-back flights, picked so that its flying time equals the day's average. Wind, cold and payload shorten real flights.
| Item | Dock 2Matrice 3D / 3TD | Dock 3Matrice 4D / 4TD | Dock 4Matrice 5TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dock | |||
| Between flights | Recharge 32 min (20 → 90 %) | Recharge 27 min (15 → 95 %) | Battery swap < 25 s; landing to take-off < 45 snew |
| Batteries at the dock | 1, in the aircraft | 1, in the aircraft | 4: one in the aircraft, 3 in 4 compartments; 2 charging channels |
| Weight | 34 kg | 55 kg | 66 kg (without batteries) |
| Closed size, L × W × H | 570 × 583 × 465 mm | 640 × 745 × 770 mm¹ | 639 × 640 × 836 mm¹ |
| Operating temperature | −25 to 45 °C | −30 to 50 °C | −40 to 50 °C |
| Ingress protection | IP55 | IP56 | IP56 |
| Max landing wind | 8 m/s | 12 m/s | 12 m/s |
| Backup power | 12 Ah battery, > 5 h | 12 Ah battery | A flight battery in a compartment |
| Aircraft | |||
| Weight / max take-off | 1410 / 1610 g | 1850 / 2090 g | 2600 / 3050 g |
| Max flight / hover time | 50 / 40 min | 54 / 47 min | 59 / 55 min |
| Operating radius | 10 km | 10 km | 10 km |
| Operating temperature | −20 to 45 °C | −20 to 50 °C | −40 to 50 °C |
| Ingress protection | IP54 | IP55 | IP55 |
| Thermal camera, normal / UHR | 640 × 512 / 1280 × 1024 | 640 × 512 / 1280 × 1024 | 1280 × 1024 / 2560 × 2048 |
| Obstacle sensing | Vision, six directions | Omnidirectional vision, downward 3D infrared | Omnidirectional vision, rotating LiDAR, downward 3D infrared, mmWave radar forward, up and down |
| Accessories | — | — | Up to 450 g: spotlight, speaker, parachute |
¹ Includes the 145 mm wind speed gauge and the mounting brackets (58 mm on Dock 3, 69 mm on Dock 4); Dock 3 also includes its 160 mm RTK module. On Dock 4 the RTK base station is in the separate O4 Ground Station. — means not given in the spec data used.
One day at a Dock 4 site, sample data
A simulated 24 hours at one dock: night patrols, emergency dispatches and two inspection flights, with a wind front in the afternoon. The batteries, swaps, holds and charging follow the dock's published limits. Every value on these screens is generated for this page; it is not a recording and not DJI software.
Aircraft and compartments two charging channels
Flights and battery levels
| Launch | Task | Flight | Battery | After landing | Note |
|---|
Dock sensors wind, rain, ambient and cabin temperature
Gimbal camera simulated view, 1280 × 720 canvas
The screens are a generic layout made for this page. Behaviour follows DJI's published rules where they exist: no take-off above 12 m/s wind, a swap only when the aircraft is below 90 % and a stored battery is above 90 %, two batteries charging at 27 min from 15 to 95 %, at most three batteries in the compartments. Consumption, flight lengths, the weather and the scene in the camera view are invented.
Sources: DJI Dock 4 specs · DJI Dock 4 announcement · DJI Dock 3 specs · DJI Dock 2 specs · DJI Dock 4 User Manual v1.0 (swap rule p. 70, battery LEDs p. 71).