The compact DJI Matrice 30 (M30) series is favored by public safety agencies. Volarious introduced the V-Line Pro premium tethered kit at the Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas in order to further boost the M30’s use.
V-Line Pro enables the M30 to fly forever while tethered. With a patented reel mechanism, users of the M30 will be able to climb at 5m/s without fear of severing the tether or suffering extreme stress. A lightweight aviation-grade cable allows users to soar up to 100 meters in the air.
There are several advantages to the concept of a tethered drone, especially for search and rescue or fire response use cases.
First of all, the drone can operate for extended periods of time. The drone is powered via a tethered cable. The base unit requires either shore power or a generator to provide power for the unit.
Secondly, the drone can be deployed quickly (as soon as power is available). The drone will remain stationary at a set height and begin providing either surveillance of a scene or light to the ground (or both).
More than a surveillance tool, Volarious launched several add-ons including a 12,000 lumens searchlight and 20,000 lumens flood light. V-Line Pro enables the M30 to provide critical illumination in the dark. The compactness of the solution means public safety departments need not wait for specialty vehicles with mast lighting to arrive at the scene.
I was able to get a demo of just how quick and easy it is to attach the battery powered tether to a DJI M30 drone in this video interview with Volarious CEO Zhang Weiliang at the recent 2022 Commercial UAV expo in Las Vegas:
“Public safety departments has been asking us about adding lights to the tether systems, the M30 series with Payload SDK provided us the opportunity to do it in a way that is fully integrated” said Weiliang, founder of Volarious.
Using the DJI MSDK, the companion app enables users to check the tether kit’s characteristics while flying their drone. Available features include automatic takeoff and precision landing.
For border patrol agencies, vehicle following mode enables the M30 to follow the vehicle independently, even when the camera is scanning the horizon for dangers. The 33-liter-capacity V-Line Pro is small enough to fit in fire trucks with limited storage space.
Beyond DJI systems, the company is looking for collaboration partners to bring tethered technologies to more drone systems.
