Drones (aerial)
Docked drone (drone-in-a-box)
A drone that lives in a weatherproof dock that charges it and launches it on schedule or on alarm, often flown remotely.
Good at
Repeat inspections, security patrols and site monitoring without sending a pilot.
Watch out for
Remote and beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights need regulatory approval in most countries.
Specs that matter for this type
- Weight
- Runtime / flight time
- Payload
- Top speed
- Range
- Max wind resistance
- Ingress protection (IP)
- Operating temperature
- Sensors
Jobs it does
Usually the main robot for
Models we've catalogued
How to read this. Specs come from each maker's own spec page or datasheet, with the link and the date we checked it. Blank means the maker doesn't publish it (or we haven't found it). Scores are a whirrwork assessment, not a lab test: we only score a model when independent trials or tests exist. Methodology.
| Model | Weight | Runtime / flight time | Payload | Top speed | Range | Max wind resistance | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJI Dock 3 with Matrice 4TD DJI | 1.85 kg | 54 min | – | 21 m/s | 10 km | 12 m/s | Not enough evidence to rate |
| Skydio X10 Skydio | – | 40 min | 0.385 kg | 20.1 m/s | – | 11.9 m/s | Not enough evidence to rate |
Also called: docked drone.