Custom geofence
Hello,
Is there a tool to draw a custom geofence to restrict manual flying to a specified area?
I need to add a geofence to prevent flying into a restricted area around a railway. I would be flying manually.
Thanks
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Comments
11 comments
This isn't Dronelink specific but, IMHO, the best way to achieve this would be to create a custom unlock through DJI. You can create an area that you want to stay within and unlock that. Load it to the drone and activate it and the drone won't go outside of that.
You can learn how to custom unlock here: https://youtu.be/osjnHG5-hgI
Note that an area does not have to be a DJI restricted area to create a custom unlock. I have done this several times in class G airspace, just by providing them with a PDF that says "This is class G airspace and I would like a custom unlock for <insert reason here>" as part of the unlocking process.
Thanks Barry I will try this.
NP. It was a good question and I'll turn that into a five minute Friday video :)
Hi, Unfortunately DJI refuse to allow a custom unlock in a non DJI unlock area. They simply reject the custom unlock saying drone should take off normally. Probably an automated response.
William Beck
That is not true. I have applied for custom unlocks in class-G areas multiple times and never been rejected. I include a PDF along with it that says something like the following:
"This is class G but I would like to test the unlock feature on this drone"
or
"This is class G but I have been locked out of areas that do not appear on the flysafe map before and need to make sure that I will have no issues flying in this area"
I have received dozens of unlocks based on that and never been rejected. I would imagine if you put in there that you need to ensure that the drone does not accidentally drift into an area during operations for 'x' reason, that would also be accepted.
Thanks Barry, I tried what you said and still no luck. I contacted DJI and their response was,
Currently, the unlocking request for the non-GEO areas will not be approved to avoid unexpected issues caused by using the unlocking license.
As the DJI GEO system has been updated to be in alignment with existing drone regulation by the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the unlocking applications for the non-restricted areas is no longer accepted. Please kindly understand.
The CAA warned about flysafe recently and It seems DJI have updated it to reflect the official ENR 5.1. Maybe DJI are now being more strict with approvals even outside of any zones.
That is interesting. Where are you located? Based on their response I'm assuming this is in the UK or Europe.
I know they just had a bit of a beef with EASA and CAA who basically told them they couldn't block out areas beyond what is regulated.
Also, are you set up as a company with them? I am, and I wonder if it makes a difference.
Thanks for the feedback. I use this a lot to get clearance in non-GEO areas because it happens far too often that I arrive on site only to find a secret restriction is in place. I have not done one since the EASA / CAA change though so I wonder if that will spill over into other areas.
William Beck
Based on your feedback I decided to submit an unlock for an area that I don't actually need one but will be flying tomorrow.
I've done this literally dozens of times before and always received the unlock without question. This time I received this:
"DJI doesn't limit the drone in this area, the drone should take off normally. Please kindly fly your aircraft carefully while complying with the local laws and regulations. If the drone cannot take off, please kindly update the precise Fly Safe database to the latest version."
So it seems there has been a change in operating procedures at DJI - and it must be quite recent as I did one of these just a few weeks ago.
So, unfortunately, I don't have a solution for you. You can put a geofence in place for when you are flying missions by creating exclusion zones - more on that here https://youtu.be/j7aP3kUwQhg
But if you are flying manually (even using DL) that will not help you. I wish I had a better news for you.
Thanks Barry, it's a shame it no longer works.
There doesn't seem to be that many profesional flight control options for users forced to fly the Mini 3 Pro after the UK didn't adopt C EASA ratings.
Maybe this can be a feature request for DL using virtual sticks mode?
William Beck
Virtual stick relates to flying the drone in a mission. If that is what you are doing then you can put exclusion zones around it. But, frankly, as long as the mission is properly designed that shouldn't be necessary.
This is really only an issue when flying manually - which is why the solution I proposed was such as good one, it worked in all cases.
FYI - I have written to DJI to ask them to reconsider this to allow people to use this geofence feature, even though that is not what the system was designed to do. They are looking into it so...fingers crossed.
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