Hello,

There is a Micro USB Port on board the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0.
I was wondering what are the use cases for this Micro USB Port?

Can I use it to power onboard payload? It doesn't seem to be able to power my FLIR DUO R thermal camera?
If anyone has some specific examples of what they have used it for and what it's supposed to be used for, that would help me a lot!
Thanks!

So my understanding is that it is used for firmware updates? And extracting flight data? Can it not be used for anything else?

djiuser_QanrnxVQafWs Posted at 2018-7-18 19:36
So my understanding is that it is used for firmware updates? And extracting flight data? Can it not be used for anything else?

DJI may be able to do more with it, but you cannot.

Geebax Posted at 2018-7-18 20:10
DJI may be able to do more with it, but you cannot.

Yes he can He can use it to download photos and videos to his computer...  (although I don't see the utility of it -in normal circumstances- since it is quite slower than just taking out the SD card and ireading it directly from the computer)

Hello there. I appreciate your time bringing this query to us. Just to make sure, you are talking about the USB port in the aircraft, right? That's where you can plug the USB cable if you're going to connect your drone to your computer and use DJI Assistant 2.

DJI Wanda Posted at 2018-7-19 06:27
Hello there. I appreciate your time bringing this query to us. Just to make sure, you are talking about the USB port in the aircraft, right? That's where you can plug the USB cable if you're going to connect your drone to your computer and use DJI Assistant 2.

yes, that's what I'm talking about. My intent is to stream thermal images from a thermal camera that I have mounted to the drone. Right now, I have to use a third part telemetry system that I have to power with an additional on-board power supply. Unless... there is a way I can hack the P4's telemetry system?

djiuser_QanrnxVQafWs Posted at 2018-7-19 16:31
yes, that's what I'm talking about. My intent is to stream thermal images from a thermal camera that I have mounted to the drone. Right now, I have to use a third part telemetry system that I have to power with an additional on-board power supply. Unless... there is a way I can hack the P4's telemetry system?

'Unless... there is a way I can hack the P4's telemetry system?'

The telemetry system is fully occupied as it is. And DJI will not give you any help in hacking anything.

Geebax Posted at 2018-7-19 16:50
'Unless... there is a way I can hack the P4's telemetry system?'

The telemetry system is fully occupied as it is. And DJI will not give you any help in hacking anything.

You're right, the P4 is more difficult to hack than the P3. Looks like DJI is understandably going for a closed system and I don't think you'd want to help as that could lead to liability issues.

Specifically, I was looking for some insight on how others have mounted 3rd part sensors or cameras and what telemetry they used to stream their data to ground? Right now I'm using an wireless HDMI sender and receiver after mounting an onboard power supply. If anyone else has thought of something clever, lmk! Or if anyone has recommendations of other online resources where people have made modifications to their Phantom?

I'm still learning about underlying technology of the P4 and my goal is to make my P4 on par with a superior industrial machine like the Intel Falcon 8 system, for a fraction of the cost. Wish me luck ;)

djiuser_QanrnxVQafWs Posted at 2018-7-19 16:31
yes, that's what I'm talking about. My intent is to stream thermal images from a thermal camera that I have mounted to the drone. Right now, I have to use a third part telemetry system that I have to power with an additional on-board power supply. Unless... there is a way I can hack the P4's telemetry system?

We do not recommend to do that.

So... I JUST learned that the micro port was able to power an additional camera/sensor.  I tried it and it worked!! Used an adapter to get right sizes in place leading to the sensor.

However... I did have an issue on the second attempt, where the sensor had recycled power a couple times during flight; so perhaps it is limited in the power output available.  The person that told me about this claimed to not have any issues (and just happened to discover it worked via trial and error.

DJI Wanda Posted at 2018-7-19 06:27
Hello there. I appreciate your time bringing this query to us. Just to make sure, you are talking about the USB port in the aircraft, right? That's where you can plug the USB cable if you're going to connect your drone to your computer and use DJI Assistant 2.

So... I JUST learned that the micro port was able to power an additional camera/sensor.  I tried it and it worked!! Used an adapter to get right sizes in place leading to the sensor.

However... I did have an issue on the second attempt, where the sensor had recycled power a couple times during flight; so perhaps it is limited in the power output available.  The person that told me about this claimed to not have any issues (and just happened to discover it worked via trial and error.

Can DJI validate the power output from this plug?