DJI has developed a variety of aerial drones that farmers can use for monitoring and managing the health and potential environmental stresses for their crops and fields. The Agras T-Series Drones (T-10, T-16, T-20, T-30, T-40)are agricultural drones used for spraying crops and fields. It can perform multiple missions for surveying, mapping, spraying, and spreading. The images of the target field can be captured in real-time.
DJI recommends using an Agras T-Series Drones (T-10, T-16, T-20, T-30) in combination with a Phantom series drone, for instance, a Phantom 4 RTK for a complete agricultural solution. A typical workflow for implementing this combination of technology tools would look like: Plan a survey flight with the Phantom RTK for precise data collection that will be fed into the DJI Terra software to generate real-time mapping 2D/3D modeling and AI operation planning. Then using DJI Agricultural Management Platform; plan for a Agras T-Series drone flight mission to spray your designated crop area.
The DJI SmartFarm App delivers service and support for spraying and spreading campaigns. It can display data, allow for device management, field sharing, tutorials, collaboration for teams and measurement tools. You can control and manage your Agras drone and view the data on the drone as well.
The Agras T-40 has a Coaxial twin rotor design allows for an increase in the payload capacity – max payload 50 Kg. It also has a dual atomized spraying system for even spreading. It has a magnetic drive impeller pump. The pump is totally isolated from the drone’s motor so the chance of corrosion in the motor is greatly reduced. It can be taken apart for hand-cleaning.
This T-Series drone can sense objects from all directions and is able to detect objects up to 50 m away and can follow the contours of the terrain it is flying over. It is able to perform multiple missions for surveying, mapping, spraying, and spreading. The field’s boundaries and objects within and around the field are automatically detected by the drone system. The images of the target field can be captured in real-time. Where you can create local maps via the remote controller of the D-RTK 2 Mobile Station.
DJI recommends that you pair the Agras T40 with the DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral for spraying and spreading projects. Pairing the two lets you use the farmland’s prescription map and allows for greater precision for spraying fertilizer, defoliants and nutrients for a variety of crops.
DJI has stopped production for most of the DJI Matrice Series (DJI Matrice 100, 200, 600, 600 Pro Series are no longer in production). DJI is now recommending the DJI Matrice 30 Series, DJI M30, and DJI M30T.
DJI M30, has three sensors on its gimbal and camera (wide angle camera, zoom camera, and laser range finder).
The DJI M30T, has four sensors on its gimbal and camera (wide angle, camera zoom, laser range finder, and thermal imaging camera).
The gimbal and camera are fixed in place and cannot be removed so it cannot be switched out for another. The camera has five photo modes: Single-Shot, High-res Grid Photo, Timed Shot, Panorama, and Smart Low-light Photo. It has an aerial FPV mode in the DJI Pilot 2.0 App to create a flight plan and capture images.
The M30 series is not really designed for aerial surveying so it’s accuracy is not guaranteed. The M30T Series is compatible with D-RTK2 Mobile Station (DJI Datalink Pro and D-RTK is no longer in production. DJI is recommending D-RTK 2) so if you upgrade the firmware on the D-RTK2 Mobile Station to its latest version, you can use DJI FlightHub2, an all-in-one cloud-based drone operations management platform for real-time situational awareness with the autonomous drones which reduces the need of piloting the flight missions. It accesses the information needed to plan a flight mission, supervise the drone fleet, and manage the data gathered.
The M30T is also compatible with DJI Dock. The DJI Dock houses the Matrice 30T series drone, where the drone lands, takes off, recharges, and executes flight plan missions that have been programmed into the DJI FlightHub 2. The DJI Dock is designed to perform operations 24/7, in sunshine/rain weather situations.
Although DJI has stopped production on the majority of the Matrice Series drones, they still have the DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone marketed on their website.. This drone has a flight time of up to 55 minutes, advanced AI capabilities, and six directional positions and sensing. It can fly in an extreme range of temperatures (-4°F – 104°F, -20°C – 40°C).
It uses OcuSync Enterprise transmission system. It has a transmission range of 15km (9.32 miles). It can automatically switch between 2.4 GHz and 5.8GHz while flying which can improve the reliability of the drone’s flight in a high-interference areas. The data transmission is kept secure with AES-256 encryption.
This drone can handle up to 3 cameras/sensors (max. 27kg) mounted on it at the same time (single downward gimbal, single upward & single downward gimbal, and single upward gimbal & dual downward gimbal).
** Note that the M300 RTK does not use the same Zenmuse cameras and sensors systems.**
The compatible payloads include: DJIs L1, P1, Zenmuse H2O Series,Zenmuse XT S, Zenmuse XT2, and Zenmuse Z30 and third- party payloads developed by using DJI payload SDK. The DJI Pilot App (Android) is the only app supported for the M300 RTK at this time.
The SDKs available for it include: DJI Onboard SDK, Payload SDK, and Mobile SDK. Drone Deploy and Pix4D are not compatible with this drone.
DJI’s has developed the Phantom Series drones for the mapping and analysis part of the Aerial Precision Agriculture solution. The DJI Phantom Series includes: Phantom 4 Pro V2.0., Phantom 4 RTK, P4 Multispectral.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. is the new version of Phantom 4 Pro. It has the following technology features:
OcuSync 2.0 transmission system: It allows for wireless connectivity to the drone from DJI Goggles. It also gives a stronger signal so it can transmit video from a greater distance.
The propulsion system uses the FOC sinusoidal Driver ESCs and 9455S quick release propellers to reduce noise and improve the flight performance of the drone.
It has a return-to-home function and a narrow sensing flight mode that aids in navigating tight flight areas.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. has a remote controller made exclusively for it. It is not compatible with the other Phantom Series drone controllers. The remote controller includes the choice for a built-in 5.5” screen added to it.
The DJI Go 4 app is included with purchasing the drone. It has 3 flight modes and 12 intelligent flight modes. The camera can be used in an auto or manual mode.
This drone has the following flight safety features: 5 directions of obstacle sensing and 4 directions of collision avoidance. There are several price bundles, accessories and parts to choose from.
DJI Phantom 4 RTK differs from the other drones in the Phantom series because it focuses on performing flights for high-precision survey and mapping projects. The built-in DJI RTKSystem eliminates the need for setting up ground control points that are usually required for obtaining precise location position for the images being collected during flight. The precision in the location position is achieved by the transfer of data and streaming error correction from the ground control system. It is also capable of performing PPK post-processing on satellite data. This RTK version of Phantom 4 uses OcuSync2 transmission system, which has a stronger signal than earlier Phantom series drone, resulting in a larger range for transmission to the drone. The Phantom 4 RTK’s camera is similar to the earlier Phantom drones but it has some new features like, RTK (kinematic real-time) positioning module, a new TimeSync system, and a mapping app.
Important note, the DJI Phantom 4 RTK may not be flown in other countries outside of the U.S. There are other specific versions for different countries and/or regions.
The P4 Multispectral, P4 M, is very similar to the Phantom 4 RTK; both have the RTK built-in system all-in-one platform. The main difference can be found in the camera packaged with this drone. It has an RGB camera and five cameras that comprises the multispectral camera array. The Phantom 4 RTK is equipped with only one RGB camera. They both use the same noise reducing propeller system. The remote controller included with the P4 M, SDK Remote Controller, is the only controller currently compatible with it. DJI GS Pro, the app used to operate the drone, can also be used to plan and carry out your flights. You may use the same flight plans to perform later missions. DJI GS Pro is built-in to the controller and it uses Apple Maps. The P4 M is not compatible with other 3rd – party base stations nor can you connect the controller to a radio station. However, it is possible to get data from a network RTK server by using NTRIP protocol in a 4G/WiFi network environment. You can also obtain Satellite observation data that is saved in the drone. This data can be used to perform post processed kinematics (PPK) to finish the project.
Recently, DJI has added a drone to its Mavic Series drones, DJI Mavic 3M. In DJI Mavic 3M, the M stands for multispectral. This Mavic 3 version couples a RGB camera and a multispectral camera that lets you survey and analyze your field and crops to determine how healthy your crop is as well as any environmental stress that might be present.
The Mavic 3M’s multispectral camera has 4 X 5MP and its RGB camera has 20 MP 4/3 CMOS, mechanical shutter. The five camera setup lets you capture G (Green), R (Red), RE (Red Edge), and NIR (Near Infrared) bands of light wavelengths. Thus, capturing the visible and nonvisible light wavelengths that are being reflected off the plants and soil.
It has a sunlight-sensor integrated in the top of the drone structure. This is used to record how bright the sun’s irradiance is as it is reflecting off the different surfaces of the area included in the aerial surveying. This data is very beneficial for improving the NDVI results and comparing data results for subsequent survey flights.
It has Omnidirectional Object Avoidance and can Transmit signals from 15km away. It is also equipped with RTK Positioning so you do not have to use ground control points to achieve precision GPS/GNSS location positioning for the images being captured.
The Mavic 3M’s battery capacity has a cruise time of 43 minutes so it will allow you to achieve surveying up to 200 hectares (494.211 acres) each flight mission.
Last Edit 27 March 2023, Kellee