- Police say the new DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is a game changer for the emergency services;
- Derbyshire Constabulary praises the drone's increased capabilities and says its upgraded camera specs enable 'more confident searches';
- The Constabulary's drone team says the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is the best in the series, with its higher-resolution thermal sensor providing superior details compared to the M2E Dual;
- Derbyshire Police is using the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced as part of a drone fleet, which includes the DJI M300 RTK.
The DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is a game changer for the emergency services thanks to its vastly-improved imaging capabilities, says a police department’s drone chief.
PC Tom Gee, UAS Accountable Manager for Derbyshire Constabulary’s Police Drone Unit, has praised the aircraft’s upgraded thermal and visual sensors, which he says make for more confident searches and reliable data collection.
Having received the drone from heliguy™ at the end of March, the team has already deployed it on a number of operations, with pleasing results.
PC Gee said: “It is an awesome drone with great capabilities. Its upgraded visual specifications make it a game-changer for the public safety and emergency services arena.
“We have already used it to search open rural ground for a missing person and more recently an urban housing estate for suspects that decamped from a vehicle after a pursuit, and we were very impressed with how it performed.”
The Best Mavic 2 Enterprise Yet
Superseding the original Mavic 2 Enterprise and the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced has vastly improved imaging capabilities.
The table below shows the key differences between the sensors.
| Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced | Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual | Mavic 2 Enterprise (Original) | |
| Visual Camera | 48 MP; ½” CMOS; 32x digital zoom. |
12 MP; 1/2.3” CMOS; 4x digital zoom. |
12 MP; 1/2.3” CMOS; 3x digital zoom. |
| Thermal Camera | 640 x 512 px radiometric sensor; 30Hz frame rate; Dedicated 16x thermal zoom; R-JPEG. |
160 x 120 px; 9Hz frame rate; No dedicated thermal zoom; JPEG. |
Does not have a thermal sensor |
Having now deployed all three versions of the Mavic 2 Enterprise Series, Derbyshire Constabulary’s drone team can confirm that the Advanced is the best to date.
PC Gee said: “The Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is certainly a step up in its capabilities for use within the emergency services arena.
“Having previously used the original Mavic 2 Enterprise and the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, switching to the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced was an easy transition, but with the major advantage of a vastly improved thermal camera which gives us more confidence when conducting nighttime searches.”
Indeed, the effective pixels on the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced’s thermal camera have been increased by 17x compared to the Dual, while the frame rate is vastly upgraded.
In fact, the Advanced’s 640 x 512 px thermal resolution places it on par with the H20T and XT2 payloads, engineered for larger drones, such as the M300 RTK.
PC Gee said: “We have the M2ED currently based on our divisional hubs for the spontaneous requests at night. These will soon be replaced with further M2EAs as the thermal capability is superior.
“The higher resolution allows for greater details to distinguish objects/people when searching at night, meaning that heat sources can be discounted.
“In comparison, the Dual’s thermal camera shows just a ‘blob’ on a scene, making it hard to identify what we are seeing and still needs an officer on the ground to check.”
The Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced also boasts an upgraded visual sensor: The effective number of pixels has been increased by four times, compared to its predecessors, and has superior zoom capabilities.
PC Gee said: “The M2EA’s improved visual sensor is a big advantage. The ability to zoom in further than the other Mavic 2 Enterprise drones allows us to cover more ground and zoom in without having to bring the drone closer.”
Using The Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced As Part Of A Drone Fleet
The Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is a powerful standalone drone, but it also works well as part of a drone fleet.
Derbyshire Constabulary is using it in partnership with DJI’s flagship commercial platform, the M300 RTK, and the pair complement each other - offering a versatile and comprehensive public safety drone solution.
PC Gee said: “The M2EA provides us with a rapidly deployable drone during fair weather for quick initial searches. We would also use the aircraft for any spontaneous scenario that requires a drone, especially at night.
“Because of its small size and weight, the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced also allows for safer deployments in urban areas, but still gives us the quality required for more confident searches.
“The M300 RTK has an IP45 rating and a longer flight time than the M2EA, so should there be adverse weather or a prolonged search over larger rural areas, we would use the high-quality M300 RTK.”
By their very nature, the Mavic 2 Enterprise Series drones have traditionally been used as quickly-deployable first response solutions to get early eyes on an incident, followed by a larger, more powerful drone being used for more in-depth data collection and analysis of the scene.
However, PC Gee believes that the upgraded specs of the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced (pictured below with its beacon accessory on top) could lead to a change in this type of tactic.
He said: “Thanks to the higher quality camera of the M2EA - compared to the previous Mavic 2 Enterprise drones - there may now not be as much of a requirement to follow up with the larger M210 or M300 RTK.”
Visit the heliguy™ website to buy the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and M300 RTK, or contact us for more information.
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