DJI GEO compatability

General Discussion
1

I’m heading out to Lady Elliot Island in Australia to map the place. Its an airstrip so was restricted in GEO. I’ve unlocked the area. Is there anything else I need to do or will DD automatically register this. NOTE that the site is offline so I will not have internet access.

2

Hello @lionmonkey,

Thanks for reaching out. I would update your DroneDeploy application to the latest version. I went ahead and set your permission to fly in the restricted area. You should sign out and sign back in if you have not already. I would also plan your map when you have internet connection, then save that map to be flown during the offline flight. You should be able to now.

Thanks.

3

Thanks Yusuf,

Is there a way I can quickly review my permissions in DD?

Best,

Graham

4

Hi Yusuf,

Are you saying that DD is adding restrictions on top of and in addition to dji-fencing? If not, please explain your statement above.

Thank you.

5

Hello @lionmonkey

Unfortunately, permissions are a backend access not available to users.

@Dave

DroneDeploy automatically has a restriction in place so the app does not allow drones to take off in restricted areas. However, with permission through the DJI GO app, we can allow drones to fly in no-fly zones by removing this restriction in the backend.

Thanks.

6

@Yusuf is there a map of some kind showing what restrictions DD has in place? That’s pretty crappy that you’re adding yet another layer of restrictions, on top of what DJI has already done, to professional operators. I say professional operators, because I doubt there are many, if any, hobbyist users of DD.

7

Hello @MBlacklin,

We have implemented the NFZ as a liability concern as to not allow users to accidentally take off in no-fly zones. We are also working on creating a fix for this. Currently, the DJI SDK allows/restricts flights depending on the geo-fenced area. This is still buggy, preventing us from developing a true user-friendly fix within the DroneDeploy application. We are hoping to get a fix for this soon.

Thanks

8

Hi @Yusuf So, to be clear, you are just talking about the DJI nannyware that is present already and DD “honors” that system. If the user unlocks in GO, or even better, has modified craft FW that has all that stuff removed, then DD will work just fine, correct?

Or, are you saying that DD doesn’t care about any of that and DD adds an additional layer of nannyware on top of that?

Looking for specifics here. Thank you.

9

@Dave We have that No Fly Zone restriction in place because DJI’s ability to unlock and lock their geofencing through a third-party app is faulty. This is because you must have a DJI verified account to unlock your restricted area to fly. Once full, seamless integration is available we will then begin to have this feature on the user side of our application.

In the meantime, you must reach out in order to have access to fly in restricted areas.

Thanks.

10

Ok, that’s too bad. DJI GEO is not mandated by any authority and, is increasingly not well received by commercial operators. It’s unfortunate that DD chooses to add geo-fencing when they also are not mandated to do so by any authority. I will be sure to spread the news in commercial uas forums that DD is taking it upon themselves to add their own Geofencing scheme which is yet another thing that can go wrong in the field. I understand you are just the messenger @Yusuf so nothing personal. But a poor business decision by DD IMHO.

1 Like
11

Just to be clear though my DD account is now unlocked to fly over Lady Elliot Island and I don’t need to be online for this to work?

12

Hi Yusuf. I have the same problem. I have unlock an area with DJI and need to use DroneDeploy app to make the map. Could you set permissions for me?

13

@Dave @lionmonkey @DRONE4MAP

Hello, you all should have your no-fly zone restrictions lifted from the DroneDeploy app. Now any restriction should be on the DJI Go side.

Thanks.

1 Like
14

Hi Yusuf,

When in a DJI GEO green (enhanced warning) zone, will DD just give a notification that can be clicked through? That is what I have gotten on a couple of recent missions. I was not hindered by DD but I don’t know if that is because my P4P has DJI GEO disabled or it’s that way for everyone. I have not tried using DD in a yellow or red DJI GEO zone yet. Will DD just behave the same as it did in the green zone?

Thanks for DD not adding their own restrictions on top of DJI’s interference. Good choice!

15

@Dave

As mentioned above, our no fly zone (NFZ) is merely a feature that tries to munipulate the DJI SDK to allow flight in restricted/un-authorized zones. We are not preventing the drone from flying-the DJI SDK is not allowing to set waypoints on our app if that makes sense.

So the NFZ feature is kind of a last ditch effort if a user really needs to fly in a no fly zone and is unable to via the DroneDeploy app normally.

Thanks!

16

I’m trying to stay out of the weeds (so to speak). But just trying to understand that all DD is doing is looking at the DJI GEO map and saying “you’re in a zone” and that’s it, correct?

Understand that GEO is disabled on my aircraft… I can be in a DJI RED restricted zone and the Go 4 app will tell me “you’re in a zone”. But I can simply dismiss the notification and fly away. GEO is turned off in my craft FW so the app has no authority.

So, If I had stock FW installed, and I would not be able to arm the motors because of DJI GEO, then I would not be able to arm the motors in Drone Deploy either, correct?

17

At the moment, if a user tries to take off within a no fly zone, the DJI SDK will fail when it tries to load waypoints or takeoff. We don’t do anything to cause this and the message is coming straight from the drone. What Yusuf turned on as a permission is something we’ve added that attempts to use the DJI SDK to unlock the no fly zone in the firmware. This all depends on whether it’s unlockable or you have special permission. Unfortunately it is not super reliable and whether someone is able to unlock NFZ is a bit hit or miss.

So within your aircrafts firmware it has a regularly updated list of no fly zones and DD has no control over it. If you stock firmware, it’d probably fail when trying to load the waypoints.

18

Okay, thanks @chasemgray.

I’m not at all challenging what you guys are doing. Just trying to be prepared. I will test this out for myself one of these days but just wanted to know what to expect. I have tested Litchi, and with my FW with GEO disabled, I was able to fly no problem.