Q: What are some of the features that people are so enthused about for this craft?
A: The M30 is kind of a mixture between the Mavic 3 Enterprise Advanced and the Matrice 300. So I would say people are most excited about the whole package- the combination of so many of the features of the M300 with the portability of the M2EA. It's a very impressive product.
And on top of that, we've added a new controller, the RC plus, that I think people are really excited about, too. So with these two combinations, I think people are very happy to see this product being released by DJI.
Q: Yeah. It's like you guys took the best parts of the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and the M300. I mean, if you put them together and they had a baby, this is what it would look like.
Can you get into some of the tech that the M30 series, especially the M30T, offers?
A: Sure. So some of the technologies you can see in the payload right now, are similar to the H20 and H20T. With the M30T, you have a zoom, the thermal, the wide then a laser rangefinder. So those are the same exact features of the M300, but we've basically been able to minimize it and put it into the size of a DJI M30.
Q: So the same resolution, same radiometric capabilities, same smart tracking capabilities as the M300?
A: Correct.
Q: One difference I've seen is the way its stores, right? You don't need that rubber cover as you did before with the H20T?
A: Yes. Previously we did have a plastic case that you'd have to put on, but that is no longer the case. So it's pretty easy for storage or quick deployment. So let's say you wanted to put it in the case, you could quickly put it up and when you're ready to deploy, you just put it down and it's ready. Good to go. And we've also eliminated the payload calibration.
Q: Okay. So it's quicker to deploy because you can just flip that down. It's quicker to take off because there's no calibration needed and conversely, it's quicker to put away.
Pretty simple. That's going to be very useful, especially for our public safety users; where in an emergency situation every second counts. So even shaving off just a couple seconds of taking off the cover or however many seconds it takes for that calibration can make a big difference.
A: Absolutely. We've also made it quicker and easier to unfold than it was with the Matrice 300. There's less resistance on the arms, so you can unfold them with just one hand. We've gotten rid of the previous M300's twist and turn locking system. Now we have the button lock system.
You're able to basically push a button down one handed and turn it and then lock it. The button will jump up and you're able to see that it's locked.
Q: That's a great improvement. Any changes to other physical mechanisms?
A: We've also added a new battery lock system. Previously with the DJI M300, it was a single plastic tab to keep both the batteries in.
So it was a one step fail safe. This actually has two of its own locking mechanism. So if there was ever a failure on this end of the battery side, the other is not impacted at all. So you're able to actually able to release batteries and take them out one handed and then change it back. This also makes hot swapping a lot easier.
Q: How so?
A: It's almost impossible to accidentally kill the power by taking out both batteries because one is locked while the other one is being taken out and maneuvered.
Q: That's a great added safety feature. Can you tell me a little bit about some of the other safety features?
A: Like the M300, the M30 has the six obstacle avoidance sensors.
It also has the three propeller emergency landing carried over from the M300. This comes into play if you have one propeller not functioning correctly; the aircraft can still land itself with three propellers.
Q: That's excellent. Can you tell me about the smart pin tracking feature?
A: Yeah. So let's say a suspect throws something or tries to get rid of something. An operator can continue following the suspect while dropping a pin where those items were thrown, and it will tag those GPS coordinates. You're able to then transfer that over to any working parties that you have assisting and basically track down what you're looking for with those pins.
And you can drop an infinite amount of pins. With smart tracking, basically you can draw a box around a vehicle or a building or a person. And it's going to try to copy those pixels and its algorithm will automatically follow that subject. This is another great tool we've carried over from the DJI M300 to the DJI M30.
Q: Do you happen to know the operational range? How far can it go?
A: Yes. So now using OccuSync 3, our advertised distance is 15 kilometers. Different things that are going to vary. Obviously buildings are objects and signals, but that is our OccuSync 3, we're using our new algorithm with the controller and the aircraft. You're able to get that 15 kilometers. So very impressive.
Q: Let's, let's take a look again at this payload here. There's quite a number of cameras. On the payload itself, but I'm also noticing some cameras up here. Can you tell me a little bit about what's going on up here?
A: Yeah. So right here is the FPV camera first person view. So we've improved it. We've brought that over. It's not a new concept. We've had it before in our previous enterprise aircraft, our Matrice, Inspire. With this FPV camera, we've actually done quite a bit of improvement. It works better now in low light. So essentially around sunrise and sunset, you're able to use that FPV and you're able to see. So this is a great tool because whenever you're using the aircraft and you're doing inspections, everyone knows you're not just always looking straight forward.
You're looking to the left, you're looking to the right, whatever you may be inspecting. I think a good use case I'm thinking of is when you're doing a potentially a bridge inspection and you're looking to the left, but you have your drone facing to the end of the tunnel and the beginning of the tunnel. And you're able to, at any time, switch that camera view back and forth and get your situational awareness and orientation to set yourself up for success.
Q: Are you able to switch between the thermal and the visible cameras and see them at the same time?
A: Yeah. So you're able to do split view. So you're able to have your thermal on one side and then your visual camera on the other side. Kind of helping with your orientation and kind of seeing sometimes when we're staring at a thermal image for such a long period of time, you don't remember what you were looking at in the first place. So I think with the dual view, you're able to see - hey, this is how it looks like in real life. This is how it looks on a thermal reading scale.
A: Yeah. So you're able to do split view. So you're able to have your thermal on one side and then your visual camera on the other side. Kind of helping with your orientation and kind of seeing sometimes when we're staring at a thermal image for such a long period of time, you don't remember what you were looking at in the first place. So I think with the dual view, you're able to see - hey, this is how it looks like in real life. This is how it looks on a thermal reading scale.
Q: Awesome. And are both of those views recorded at the same time?
A: Yes.
Q: That's very cool. So we spoke a lot about the M30. What about the RC Plus? This thing looks much different than the previous month.
A: Absolutely. So the customer asked and we've given. People wanted a bigger screen. Previously, sometimes people had a hard time seeing it in the daytime or nighttime. It wasn't bright enough. So we've basically added a brighter screen, a bigger screen. This is the new seven-inch screen with 1200 cd/m2 brightness. So really impressive.
And we've also added it to be waterproof. So it is IP rated 54. That was a big concern. People always ask why is the drone waterproof? But the controller's not the guys out there flying it at the same time. And on top of that, we've also made it pretty simple for any external, internal batteries with it combined, you have a total of six hours flight time.
Q: So is that hot swappable?
A: Yes. Correct. So in theory, if you're just always hot swapping the WB-37s, you'll never need to charge your controller. So yes, very hot swappable.
Q: And you won't lose connection with your craft. I mean, you could just pick back up and keep going, and those are customizable buttons for different functions?
A: Yes. Correct. So you can use that to pan your gimbal. You can use that to switch between cameras, drop a pinpoint. So really, it's all the pilot's discretion to make them feel comfortable when they're flying and easy to do the job. We've added these new antennas. They're able to basically be removable at any time. So if they have, if they break, you don't need to send the controller in. You're able to just replace the antenna on the go. So you can actually have backups of these in your case.
Q: That's great. And then here, we've added micro SD, USB-A, HDMI, USB-C. So all sorts of features. Can you tell me a little bit more about DJI Pilot 2 and what's different with this newer version?
A: Yeah. So with the new DJI Pilot 2, the first thing that comes to my mind is that it's capable with Flight Hub 2. And on top of that, we've just cleaned up the interface a lot more with the new buttons, the new software - that kind of helps make it a lot easier and more accessible to the pilot.
Q: You mentioned Flight Hub 2 - tell me about that.
A: Yeah. So DJI Flight Hub 2 is a cloud-based drone management platform. So if you could think about it, when you have your pilots and your sensor operators out in the field, there has to be a logistics or an air boss behind and make sure that all operations are going smooth.
So with this tool, you're able to track and basically see what your aircraft are doing out in the field, what they're doing, why they're doing what they're doing. So you're able to see battery status. You're able to see live-streaming. You're able to see 2D mapping and you're able to coordinate, and you're even able to plan missions for them.
So if you were to plan a Waypoint mission, you're able to plan it on your computer and you're able to transfer that directly to the drone.
Q: So we've talked about a lot of the features of the M300 that have been brought into this smaller form factor. Can you tell me a little bit about what the M300 can do that this can't.
A: Yeah. So the M300 is still our flagship drone. It does take about two minutes to fully deploy. So that's - it's losing its portability, but by sacrificing that portability, you're having this larger aircraft that can have up to nine kilograms of payload weight. So on top of that, you're able to have a total of three - two at the bottom one on the top.
Q: One thing that the M300 does is the ability to do dual operator mode with their RC. Is that still the case with the M30?
A: Yeah, that's a good question. So on the M30, you're able to use the RC plus for an operator and then also a sensor operator. And in the future, we're going to update the controller for this controller to work with the M300 - so you can also do dual operator with the new RC Plus on the M300.
Q: Oh wow. So you can upgrade your M300 to work with the new RC Plus. That's going to be great. I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about the DJI Dock. Tell me about this thing.
A: So the DJI Dock is a first of its kind, where we're introducing the drone in the box solution. So they're going to be three series with the DJI M30. We're going to have an M30, which is without the thermal, M30T with the thermal, and then we're going to have an M30 Dock. So that, plus specific aircraft is going to be meant for that dock. So it's going to be able to charge wirelessly, you're not going to be able to take the batteries out and it's basically going to be able to deploy quickly and basically without an operator there.
Outro: Well, that's a lot to talk about, a lot of information. Very exciting. Thank you, Michael. I appreciate you being here. And thank you guys for reading. Obviously there's a lot to learn about the M30 and the M30T. We're very excited about it. Hope you are as well. Let us know what your favorite feature is in the comments below.
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You can watch the full interview below.
