Summary
Chinese drone company DJI has removed its geofencing feature that automatically restricted drone flights over sensitive areas, like airports, wildfires, and government buildings, replacing it with dismissible warnings.
The decision follows growing distrust in Chinese-made drones and U.S. regulatory changes.
DJI argues this empowers operators while aligning with global standards, but critics worry it could endanger safety, particularly for unaware pilots.
Previously, geofencing helped prevent incidents, like a DJI drone crash at the White House in 2015.
So they want sale and ownership of their drones to be banned in the US and eventually Europe
US drone manufacturers don’t do this. DJI was going “above and beyond” here. And it is annoying to users because their fencing was broader than what the FAA allows.
Just in time the for the inauguration? Interesting timing …
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While this is a bad move on DJI’s part, maybe it will also force some changes to drone related security.
Fencing on just the user end only protects against Uncle Bob and his ignorance, not someone actually ill intentioned.
The drones a terrorist would use to attack a government building doesn’t even have GPS. They’d build racing drones, not use an off-the-shelf camera drone
Exactly what I’m saying.
Geo fencing is only one layer of defense. It’s necessary and useful to some degree, but it should be a part of a whole system. It’s place in the system is literally that of a fence.
The most sensitive places are going to need some active form of defense. There are fiber optic drones, good luck even trying to scramble them.
I just hope one of the layers is falcons.
Yep! That said, that drone flying into a plane over the wildfires is a pretty great example of why geofencing SHOULD exist. You don’t have to have malicious intent to cause destruction…I can see someone’s drone getting sucked into an engine while they’re trying to get an amazing shot of a plane taking off
Aren’t there TFRs over fire fighting activities?
Also, any semi-busy to busy airport is generally towered. If you are flying into controlled air space without talking to tower…. You’re going to get charged with a federal crime
I think so? I don’t fly commercially (I have a racing and “indoor” drone) so I’m not sure.
And yeah, it’s a felony. But a felony doesn’t undo the damage.
I’m not advocating either way, I see both sides of the argument as having good points
I mean, multi engine planes should be able to fly without one engine. It’s still an emergency, but they should be able to get down.
In that situation, the UAV operator should have to pay for the repair on top of a punitive fine/jailtime (this is my opinion and is not backed by law).
On take off? The plane is pretty screwed. Single engine planes are also screwed in general Hitting a prop is catastrophic.
But you’re right - it doesn’t undo the damage.
I guess the takeaway is to talk to ATC when you’re at a controlled airfield
It’s an interesting situation to me because I really don’t know where I stand on it. I’m pretty against government overreach but it’s proven time and time again that we live amongst morons who think they know best…
I guess the “political climate” lately has me on edge but I really do think I’ll see a civilian-flown drone accidentally cause an aviation catastrophe in my lifetime.
Fiber optic drones? There’s a cable running from the controller to the drone? Jeez.
You must not be paying attention to the reports out of Ukraine and how both sides are resorting to fiber feeds to avoid all the jamming. It isn’t really even a new concept as it existed way back in the Vietnam War days on the TOW missile; albeit it using wire not fiber optics. Oh yeah and the TOW is currently in use in the Ukraine war right now apparently if you believe wikipedia; but I can’t back that one up myself.
ETA: actually there’s this https://web.archive.org/web/20230331103558/https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1637833178579607552 but seems to be the non-wire guided model. Go figure ;-)
Protecting against Joebro Streamerson is still a worthwhile endeavor. Some asshat with a drone literally grounded a firefighting airplane in the recent California fires that would have otherwise saved peoples’ homes if it didn’t get a hole punched in its wing.
Let idiots get their expensive toys taken away if they want.
This goes way beyond toys. Geofencing does things like stop people flying drones into nuclear power plants. The DJI Mavic can hold up to 30 kg. More than enough for a lot of explosive material.
Where are you getting 30KG?
https://enterprise.dji.com/mobile/mavic-3-enterprise/specs?startPoint=312
The highest takeoff weight I can find on their site is the Matrice 600 Pro at 15kg, but 10 of that is the drone and its batteries.
It could grip it by the husk.
I guess Google lied to me.
If someone is going to fly explosives somewhere they will simply buy a drone that isn’t DJI. It’s not hard to get around the geofencing if you really want to.
The only benefits to the geofencing was to prevent people from flying around in areas they didn’t bother to research and find out was actually somewhere they shouldn’t be flying.
Making it easier to blow things up seems bad.
Apparently, US manufacturers don’t use geofencing at all, so it was never difficult in the first place. This just means one more manufacturer who doesn’t.
This doesn’t make it any easier to blow things up. Any drone made from any US manufacturer can be used if you want to blow things up.
What this DOES do is help morons who don’t understand the consequences of their actions do stupid stuff. DJI is the most popular brand, so most morons who are doing stupid stuff with drones are probably using DJI. The people who understand drones better are less likely to use DJI. So the guy who thinks it’s a good idea to fly near wild fires or fly over a major airport is now more likely to cause trouble.
You do know that you don’t have to post if you’re not knowledgeable on a topic, right?
Sure. And if I go through your post history, I will see you only discussing things that you have expert knowledge of, correct?
Ahh, drones. The newest boogieman that nobody understands but is an expert on…
