Introduction/History
With every great innovation comes someone who will perfect that innovation and bring it to the masses. Unmanned aircraft systems and drones are no exception to this rule. Unmanned aircraft systems and drones have existed for many years but have only been publicly available for a short while. The leading company behind this mass production of drones and other UAS technology is Dà-Jiāng Innovations Science and Technology Co., Ltd or DJI for short. Founded in 2006 by Frank Wang also known as Wāng Tāo, this China-based company has lead the world in civilian-UAS with its variety of high quality drones, gimbal cameras, flight platforms, propulsion systems, camera stabilizers, and flight controllers. DJI’s products have been used in the Music, Television, and Film Industries including Emmy nominated shows such as The Amazing Race, Better Call Saul, American Ninja Warrior, and Game of Thrones. DJI, themselves, won an Emmy in 2017 for Technology and Engineering (Giardina, 2017). This paper will focus on the various products provided by DJI.
UAVs
DJI’s main products are their UAVs. DJI is the world’s leader in consumer UAVs/drones. According to April Glaser in a 2017 article on Recode, DJI makes up about 50 percent of the market sales for drones across all prices in North America. They have many different series of drones including Mavic, Inspire, Spreading Wings, and Matrice. They also have a mini-drone series for customers who want a product that is cheaper but still high quality called Spark. However, there signature series of drones is the Phantom series. Their drones are primarily used for aerial videography and photography purposes but can also be used to help with search and rescue, surveillance, and inspection. Riccardo Rocca was able to use a Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone to
“acquire a series of images in an area in the Venezuelan Andes characterized by the deformation of a regional strike-slip fault. The digital model obtained by processing the images has allowed to obtain (sic) quantitative measurements of the fault displacement and to test geological concepts related to the structure evolution. The test has proven several benefits in applying the drone technology to support the classic geological field work (sic)” (Rocca 2017 p. 63).
This same model of drone was also used in a study done by Sungjae Lee and Yosoon Choi in 2015 where they were able to 89 sheets of aerial photos of a small-scale open-pit limestone mine in Korea. They had the drone perform an automatic 30-minute flight at 100 m altitude and 3 m/s speed. They determined the use of drones could potentially replace topographic survey equipment for small-scale open-pit mines. DJI has many different drones to select from. The following table compares some of the different drones available for purchase on DJI’s online store based on various functions and features:
Model Spark Phantom 3 SE Phantom 4 Advanced Phantom 4 Pro Mavic Pro Mavic Pro Premium
Price $499 $599 $1199 $1499 $999 $1099
Maximum Flight Time (no wind) 16 min (at consistent 20 km/h) 25 min (at consistent 20 km/h) 30 min (at a consistent 20 km/h) 30 min (at a consistent 20 km/h) 27 min (at consistent 25 km/h) 30 min (at consistent 25 km/h)
Maximum Hovering Time (no wind 15 min – 28 min 28 min 24 min 27 min
Maximum Flight Distance (no wind) 9 km – 14 km 14 km – 13 km
Maximum Wind Speed Resistance 20-28 km/h 29-38 km/h 29-38 km/h 29-38 km/h 29-38 km/h 29-38 km/h
Control Range 2 km 4 km 7 km 7 km 7 km 7 km
Maximum Tilt Angle 35° (S-mode); 15° (P-mode) 35° (P-mode) 42° (S-mode); 25° (P-mode) 42° (S-mode); 25° (P-mode) 35°(S-mode) 25° (P-mode) 35°(S-mode) 25° (P-mode)
Weight 300 g 1236 g 1368 g 1388 g 734 g 734 g
Maximum Angular Velocity 300°/s (S- and P-mode) 150°/s (P-mode) 250°/s (S-mode) 150°/s (P-mode) 250°/s (S-mode) 150°/s (P-mode) 300°/s (S-mode) 250°/s (P-mode) 300°/s (S-mode) 250°/s (P-mode
Maximum Service Ceiling Above Sea Level 4000 m 6000 m 6000 m 6000 m 5000 m 5000 m
Maximum Ascent Speed 3 m/s (S- mode); 2 m/s (P-mode) 5 m/s (P-mode) 6 m/s (S-mode); 5 m/s (P-mode) 6 m/s (S-mode); 5 m/s (P-mode) 5 m/s (S- and P-mode); 2 m/s (Wi-Fi mode) 5 m/s (S- and P-mode); 2 m/s (Wi-Fi mode)
Maximum Descent Speed 2 m/s (S-mode); 1.5 m/s (P- mode) 3 m/s (P-mode) 4 m/s (S-mode); 3 m/s (P-mode) 4 m/s (S-mode); 3 m/s (P-mode) 3 m/s (S- and P-mode); 1 m/s (Wi-Fi mode) 3 m/s (S- and P-mode); 1 m/s (Wi-Fi mode)
DJI’s store lists another major difference between the Phantom 4 Pro and Phantom 4 Advanced is the Pro has 5-directional obstacle sensing. The Mavic Pro Platinum also has better noise reduction compared to the Mavic Pro according to the DJI online store. All information is gathered from DJI’s official online store. DJI has also taken steps to improve privacy protection when it comes to drone use including implementing an “Opt-Out” program for airports and other government areas (Gregory, Tse, & Lewis, 2015, pp. 1323).
Cameras
Other products sold by DJI include their high quality cameras. These include their Osmo camcorders, Zenmuse gimbal cameras, and the cameras that come with their various UAVs. DJI’s cameras can shoot up to 4k-quality video. The Osmo+ is a popular camcorder provided by DJI that is handheld and portable but also shoots very high quality video. According to DJI’s online store, it consists of a 7x zoom, which gives it a 22 mm to 77 mm focal range that does not sacrifice the HD quality. It also comes with a built-in motion timelapse function. Its price is listed at $649. The Zenmuse X7 is one of DJI’s Zenmuse series of gimbal cameras. This camera can be mounted to one of DJI’s drones for use of aerial videography and photography According to DJI’s online store, this camera can shoot at 6k CinemaDNG and 5.2k Apple ProRes and has a Super 35 sensor making it optimal for aerial videography and photography. It costs $2,699.
Flight Controllers
Flight controllers are another important product provided by DJI. They are used to increase control over various DJI aircraft. Flight controllers available on DJI’s online store include the N3, A3, Naza-H, Naza-M Lite, Naza-M V2, and Ace One. The A3 model is equipped with three IMUs and three GNSS units. This allows it to seamlessly switch to another IMU or GNSS unit if the A3 detects a failure in the one currently being used according to its description on the DJI online store. The N3 comes with a built-in black box that records everything that occurs during the flight of the aircraft the N3 is being used with. This allows the user the ability to monitor flight data in order to fine-tune the aircraft in that very moment.
Propulsion Systems
DJI also provides various propulsion systems to assist in the flight of the customer’s aircraft. Types include the E5000, E2000, E305, Snail, E1200 Standard, and E1200 Pro. The E5000 comes with M10 motors, 1280 FOC ESCs, and R2880 propellers that each has a 10-15 lbs. capacity. It also comes with a sealing to make it weatherproof.
Camera Stabilizers
The final products to be discussed in this paper will be DJI’s camera stabilizers. Their camera stabilizers are known as the Ronin series. The DJI online store lists the Ronin-MX model at $1,599. It comes equipped with DJI M600 compatibility, a design for stability in high G-force environments, professional 3-axis handheld stabilization, 3 modes of operation: Upright, Underslung, and Briefcase, and other features according to its description on the DJI online store.
Conclusion
Dà-Jiāng Innovations Science and Technology (DJI) is a leading company in the world of civilian-UAS. There wide variety of UAVs/drones is suitable for beginners, hobbyists, and professionals. They also provide other products to the public such as cameras, flight controllers, propulsion systems, and camera stabilizers.