DJI Begins Public Beta Period of Drone Geofencing System

DJI has launched a public beta version of its new geofencing system, Geospatial Environment Online (GEO), in North America and Europe.

According to DJI, GEO will provide drone users with up-to-date guidance on locations where flight may be restricted by regulation or raise safety or security concerns.

With this major upgrade to DJI’s existing geofencing system, users will have access to live information about areas temporarily restricted from flight due to forest fires, major stadium events, VIP travel and other changing circumstances. The GEO system will also show restricted areas around locations such as prisons, power plants and other sensitive areas where drone flight would raise non-aviation security concerns, explains DJI.

The GEO public beta will work with DJI’s Phantom 3 and Inspire 1 drones. Specific versions are available for download here.

To accommodate the variety of authorized applications, GEO will allow drone operators with verified DJI accounts to self-authorize and temporarily unlock flight in some locations. Certain areas where drone flight is not allowed, such as Washington, D.C., will remain as un-lockable no-fly zones. Unlocking requires a DJI account verified with a credit card, debit card or mobile phone number. DJI notes that it will neither collect nor store this information.

The verified account is required only if a user chooses to fly in a location that might raise aviation safety or security concerns, and the service is free.

The use of GEO requires a drone firmware update and installation of a beta version of the DJI Go app. Android users can directly download the APK file here. Users of iOS devices can request a download of the beta app by providing an email address to [email protected].

DJI expects to release a final version of GEO after completion of this short beta period.