Be *very* careful when drawing your GeoZone for unlocking... (almost lost Mavic 3 Pro)

[BobaFut]

I suppose this is technically my fault, but the situation really highlights the problems with how DJI implements GeoZones and how it affects drone behavior.

So I got a weeks-long authorization to fly in the Class C airspace in the city where my in-laws live, since we travel there often and it's a nice area to fly. This particular zone spans a river, and the zone I got cleared by the FAA included a sliver of land on the south side of the river where there's a good spot to take off and fly across the river to get the shots I wanted on the north side. I used this spot a couple of weeks ago and had no issues with unlocking the zone and flying all around the area.

Fast forward to 4th of July and I went to the same spot and, after launching and flying several minutes without any issues, got a "restricted zone, exit promptly" error or something similar to that. I've flown in controlled airspace A LOT (with authorization, obvs) and have never gotten this warning until this weekend and didn't think much of it because it went away and didn't seem to be affecting my flight at all...and I assumed it was because the area that I was launching from was right at the edge of the area where I had drawn the unlock polygon in FlySafe (but still well within the area I was authorized by the FAA to fly in). Also, I had flown from this exact spot just two weeks prior and not gotten any warnings, so I didn't really understand why there would be an issue now (other than DJI GeoZone system being hot garbage).

Anyway, the fireworks wrap up and I start flying home and the drone hits an invisible wall *over the river*. So it dawns on me that DJI considered my launch location as outside of the unlocked GeoZone and now wouldn't let me return to the Home Point that it now considered outside the unlocked zone. No matter what I did, including initiating an RTH, the drone refused to let me fly it past that invisible line. Thank the drone gods for the Mavic 3's long battery life, because it gave me enough time to not panic and try and work a solution. So what I figured out was that each time I'd signal an RTH, the drone would move like 3 feet closer before it would stop, and I basically just kept re-initiating RTHs until yard-by-yard I got it over land and was able to bring it down. But if I hadn't been able to do that, I'd have had to fly it back across the river and land it somewhere discrete where no one would see and steal it.

So if DJI won't let me RTH, why would it let me take off in the first place (the warning didn't pop up until a couple of minutes into the flight)?! And why was I able to fly from this spot with no issues two weeks ago but all-of-the-sudden I'm hitting an electronic wall? And now recounting this story, I remembered that I also got this warning the day before in a different spot. I double checked that zone and I was well within the boundaries of polygon in FlySafe, so that one wasn't operator error. I wonder if the recent firmware updates included some new FlySafe parameters that are more restrictive?

I'm just carping at this point, but the TL;DR is to be very careful with how you draw your polygons in FlySafe because it could be the difference between an uneventful flight and a disaster.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Given that Autel does not abide by all these Geo Zones , its not realy DJI putting any Restrictions on us as the FAA is putting on DJI .

I have a Geo Zone in my backyard and I made this video showing how I think the Warnings are all connected, but each drone handles them a little differently.

This is why we fly new uncharted waters with the Rescue Jacket until we feel were in a safe area as Geo Zones can be tricky.

Fantastic job of getting the drone back using 3 ft RTH at a time to get out , very good accesssment under panic condtions. Noted.


Start at 2:00

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[PHZ]

I had a nearly identical situation happen with a Mavic 2 Pro over a year ago. I was allowed to take off (apparently in a GEO zone), but after a couple minutes of flying, I could only descend the drone, which was hovering over a small pond. Since I was literally within feet of the Zone, I found if I moved slowly away from the Zone, it would allow me to do that. Then I landed immediately on dry ground. Some scary moments. Why allow takeoff if they are going to lock you down once in the air? A bad move on DJI’s part.
Now when I request a GEO zone unlock, I make sure I have plenty of space.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

I have not had to use the DJI unlock feature in about three years as I applied a Hack for the DJI Geo Fencing. I follow FAA rules and use LAANC when required.

Previously I had setup 13 Geo zones for my part of the state that I could potentially fly in. A couple of them were next to each other.

The wall allows you to enter a zone but prevents you from going the other direction, I found that once you enter the zone and you want to leave that zone you have to turn off the wall to return and fly outside that zone in a non DJI GEo Zone space.

If I remember correctly when I ran into the "Wall" on one occasion I went into the controller in the unlock area and turned off that particular unlock code. I was then able to pass through the wall. I don't know if it still works that way as I have said I have not used it in the past three years.

You might set up a test GEO Zone in a safe place where you can land on both sides of the wall then try that to see if it works. Intentionally run into the wall, then turn off that GEO zone in settings and see if it lets you pass. This test might give you an out next time you have the same problem and get trapped behind the wall.

If you do this and it still works, please post the results here so others will know of the fix.

 

[Octavio]

I suppose this is technically my fault, but the situation really highlights the problems with how DJI implements GeoZones and how it affects drone behavior.

So I got a weeks-long authorization to fly in the Class C airspace in the city where my in-laws live, since we travel there often and it's a nice area to fly. This particular zone spans a river, and the zone I got cleared by the FAA included a sliver of land on the south side of the river where there's a good spot to take off and fly across the river to get the shots I wanted on the north side. I used this spot a couple of weeks ago and had no issues with unlocking the zone and flying all around the area.

Fast forward to 4th of July and I went to the same spot and, after launching and flying several minutes without any issues, got a "restricted zone, exit promptly" error or something similar to that. I've flown in controlled airspace A LOT (with authorization, obvs) and have never gotten this warning until this weekend and didn't think much of it because it went away and didn't seem to be affecting my flight at all...and I assumed it was because the area that I was launching from was right at the edge of the area where I had drawn the unlock polygon in FlySafe (but still well within the area I was authorized by the FAA to fly in). Also, I had flown from this exact spot just two weeks prior and not gotten any warnings, so I didn't really understand why there would be an issue now (other than DJI GeoZone system being hot garbage).

Anyway, the fireworks wrap up and I start flying home and the drone hits an invisible wall *over the river*. So it dawns on me that DJI considered my launch location as outside of the unlocked GeoZone and now wouldn't let me return to the Home Point that it now considered outside the unlocked zone. No matter what I did, including initiating an RTH, the drone refused to let me fly it past that invisible line. Thank the drone gods for the Mavic 3's long battery life, because it gave me enough time to not panic and try and work a solution. So what I figured out was that each time I'd signal an RTH, the drone would move like 3 feet closer before it would stop, and I basically just kept re-initiating RTHs until yard-by-yard I got it over land and was able to bring it down. But if I hadn't been able to do that, I'd have had to fly it back across the river and land it somewhere discrete where no one would see and steal it.

So if DJI won't let me RTH, why would it let me take off in the first place (the warning didn't pop up until a couple of minutes into the flight)?! And why was I able to fly from this spot with no issues two weeks ago but all-of-the-sudden I'm hitting an electronic wall? And now recounting this story, I remembered that I also got this warning the day before in a different spot. I double checked that zone and I was well within the boundaries of polygon in FlySafe, so that one wasn't operator error. I wonder if the recent firmware updates included some new FlySafe parameters that are more restrictive?

I'm just carping at this point, but the TL;DR is to be very careful with how you draw your polygons in FlySafe because it could be the difference between an uneventful flight and a disaster.

Thank you for your experience. About Unlocking a GEO Zone on Your DJI Drone

Unlocking a GEO Zone on Your DJI Drone

During regular use of your drone, you may find that the drone cannot take off at some popular sites, the app prompts that the drone cannot take off and the drone has entered a Restricted Zone, and some areas are displayed in red on the map. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to apply for...

support.dji.com

 

[Zbip57]

I suppose this is technically my fault, but the situation really highlights the problems with how DJI implements GeoZones and how it affects drone behavior.

If you receive authorization for an unlocked area, your drone is allowed to fly into that unlocked zone from the outside, but cannot fly back out of the defined zone.

Read this previous thread from a year ago, where @J4MEJ encountered a similar issue and was forced to ditch his drone in the sea.
mavicpilots.com/threads/dji-software-bug-surrounding-authorised-boundaries-caused-me-to-lose-my-drone-to-the-sea.127036/

You might set up a test GEO Zone in a safe place where you can land on both sides of the wall then try that to see if it works. Intentionally run into the wall, then turn off that GEO zone in settings and see if it lets you pass. This test might give you an out next time you have the same problem and get trapped behind the wall.

@J4MEJ actually tried doing that test and posted a video of the result in that same thread. He found that the authorization zone cannot be disabled during flight.

Here's an illustration I posted in that thread explaining why that makes perfect sense in some cases. Let's say you've defined an area and received unlock authorization for a small zone located completely within a red restricted zone. In this case it makes sense that your flight should be prevented from straying outside of your authorized zone.




But here's a different case where it makes no sense at all when your green authorized zone straddles the outer edge of the red restricted zone. Yes, you should still be prevented from crossing the boundary of the Green Authorized zone anywhere into the Red restricted zone. But why should you be blocked from leaving the green authorized zone to the outside free green area?

 

[jephoto]

Has anyone talked to DJI about this? As much as we can “talk” to them. Any serious communication with them on this issue.
I can see a lot of people losing their aircraft on this…

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

All the more reason to use Drone-Hacks to remove DJI's GEO fencing, following the FAA rules and LANNC authorizations.
Not willing to take the chance on loosing a drone because DJI wants to control a scenario they have no idea what is going on. Especially when I already know the rules and follow them.

 

[jephoto]

Does Drone-Hacks in fact work on Mavic 3’s?

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Does Drone-Hacks in fact work on Mavic 3’s?

There working on the M3's. I have used it on the M2P and Air2s

 

[jephoto]

How exactly does it work? How do you install and apply?
I'd be using the RC Pro for the M3- when they get it...

 

[Droning on and on...]

While dronehacks is an alternative, the biggest takeaway for me is simply knowing to plan my takeoff/landing within the unlocked area. Or, flipped around, plan my unlock request to include where I want to take off.

 

[jephoto]

While dronehacks is an alternative, the biggest takeaway for me is simply knowing to plan my takeoff/landing within the unlocked area. Or, flipped around, plan my unlock request to include where I want to take off.

Agreed. That is MOST helpful info!

 

[MajorTom2020]

Agreed. That is MOST helpful info!

Agreed. That is MOST helpful info!

I know this is an old post but I have a question- if you include both the uncontrolled airspace (intended launch and recovery point) and the controlled airspace you want to fly in and out of in the DJI custom unlock polygon area, will the drone count the whole approved polygon area as one custom unlocked area and not have the drone stop at the border between the free and restricted zones?

 

[finity]

 

[jephoto]

I know this is an old post but I have a question- if you include both the uncontrolled airspace (intended launch and recovery point) and the controlled airspace you want to fly in and out of in the DJI custom unlock polygon area, will the drone count the whole approved polygon area as one custom unlocked area and not have the drone stop at the border between the free and restricted zones?

Has anyone answered you on this question?

 

[CieloImaging]

I suppose this is technically my fault, but the situation really highlights the problems with how DJI implements GeoZones and how it affects drone behavior.

So I got a weeks-long authorization to fly in the Class C airspace in the city where my in-laws live, since we travel there often and it's a nice area to fly. This particular zone spans a river, and the zone I got cleared by the FAA included a sliver of land on the south side of the river where there's a good spot to take off and fly across the river to get the shots I wanted on the north side. I used this spot a couple of weeks ago and had no issues with unlocking the zone and flying all around the area.

Fast forward to 4th of July and I went to the same spot and, after launching and flying several minutes without any issues, got a "restricted zone, exit promptly" error or something similar to that. I've flown in controlled airspace A LOT (with authorization, obvs) and have never gotten this warning until this weekend and didn't think much of it because it went away and didn't seem to be affecting my flight at all...and I assumed it was because the area that I was launching from was right at the edge of the area where I had drawn the unlock polygon in FlySafe (but still well within the area I was authorized by the FAA to fly in). Also, I had flown from this exact spot just two weeks prior and not gotten any warnings, so I didn't really understand why there would be an issue now (other than DJI GeoZone system being hot garbage).

Anyway, the fireworks wrap up and I start flying home and the drone hits an invisible wall *over the river*. So it dawns on me that DJI considered my launch location as outside of the unlocked GeoZone and now wouldn't let me return to the Home Point that it now considered outside the unlocked zone. No matter what I did, including initiating an RTH, the drone refused to let me fly it past that invisible line. Thank the drone gods for the Mavic 3's long battery life, because it gave me enough time to not panic and try and work a solution. So what I figured out was that each time I'd signal an RTH, the drone would move like 3 feet closer before it would stop, and I basically just kept re-initiating RTHs until yard-by-yard I got it over land and was able to bring it down. But if I hadn't been able to do that, I'd have had to fly it back across the river and land it somewhere discrete where no one would see and steal it.

So if DJI won't let me RTH, why would it let me take off in the first place (the warning didn't pop up until a couple of minutes into the flight)?! And why was I able to fly from this spot with no issues two weeks ago but all-of-the-sudden I'm hitting an electronic wall? And now recounting this story, I remembered that I also got this warning the day before in a different spot. I double checked that zone and I was well within the boundaries of polygon in FlySafe, so that one wasn't operator error. I wonder if the recent firmware updates included some new FlySafe parameters that are more restrictive?

I'm just carping at this point, but the TL;DR is to be very careful with how you draw your polygons in FlySafe because it could be the difference between an uneventful flight and a disaster.

Had something similar happen to me for the first time out in Albuquerque. I wonder if anyone has had something like what I'm about to describe happen to them recently. I was flying in an area that was a zero grid zone up until recently. Excited to see that the FAA had raised the grid ceilings and because I had been wanting to fly this area, I got my LAANC approval and went out to fly. I flew around a building for more than 20 minutes with no problem, but as soon as I flew further south (and I was still within my LAANC approved polygon area), my drone came to a full stop and I got a warning about an authorization zone. I couldn't move an inch forward and eventually had to turn around, which was disappointing as I was getting some great shots and having a blast. This had never happened before and now I've had the same issues a couple of times after that.

On another recent flight, I couldn't take off for a project and had to come back home and submit a letter on my letterhead to DJI's Geozone unlock authorization page, which is insane as I had flown that exact same site, standing in the exact same place just one day before without any issues.
It seems as though DJI is starting to clamp down unnecessarily even if one already got LAANC approval, but also sporadically, which makes zero sense. Has anyone else been unable to take off somewhere where they always flew until they submitted an official letter to DJI?

 

[PHZ]

I feel your angst. A year and a half ago, I took my Mavic 2 off close to, but outside of Class D airspace. I did not check for a GEOzone. Fired up, got a home point, green banner at the top left (Go 4), flew a small home for 3-4 minutes. I was never more than 100’ up or far away. Got a DJI nastygram and the drone was frozen in place about 80’ up and over a drainage pond. RTH had no effect. I found I could move very slightly away from the GEOZone, got over dry land then landed in a neighbor’s back yard. Why did they let me take off then lock me down within 50’ of where I took off.
Two weeks ago couldn’t take off in a park across the street from my house, been flying there since 2017. Now DJI has locked it down. I am well over a mile from Class D airspace, but DJI has added a runway extension to the Geozone and calls it an “altitude zone”. Right over me and the park. I apply and get an unlock, but why?!

The FAA no longer rules US airspace, DJI does.