New Operating System for mavic 2 Pro

[Wizard1]

As tension between China and the USA ratchet up, is there an option to reboot or replace the software in our DJI drones?
This something I think that we all need to discuss here. If that if there is a "kill switch" or program, that China can
initiate to shut down or drones, we should be ready to reprogram and get back in the air.

 

[Wizard1]

My bird.

 

[Meta4]

As tension between China and the USA ratchet up, is there an option to reboot or replace the software in our DJI drones?
This something I think that we all need to discuss here. If that if there is a "kill switch" or program, that China can
initiate to shut down or drones, we should be ready to reprogram and get back in the air.

Your fears are exaggerated.
There is no way China could ground your drone and there's no reason they would want to.
And there's no alternative operating system or any need for it.

 

[BigAl07]

As tension between China and the USA ratchet up, is there an option to reboot or replace the software in our DJI drones?
This something I think that we all need to discuss here. If that if there is a "kill switch" or program, that China can
initiate to shut down or drones, we should be ready to reprogram and get back in the air.

I think you're greatly over reacting and creating a problem that doesn't exist.

But.... if you want to fly a custom drone why not start from scratch and build it yourself (With whatever OS you want) of you can have one built by many reputable local companies across the US.

Taking something as advanced as the MAVIC (from your example) and trying to shoe horn a new OS into it is not going to be fun, productive, or quick. Ever single aspect of the aircraft (sensors, camera, propulsion etc) will have to be custom tweaked to work together and in many cases just not possible unless you are able to write your own code.

 

[Microwave89]

Your fears are exaggerated.
There is no way China could ground your drone and there's no reason they would want to.
And there's no alternative operating system or any need for it.

Is it just me or is there any other people who truly hate if something is ruled out flatly?
Like x can't be done or no way y can do x.
Same with the questions whether the Mavic can or cannot perform flips.
There's always people that flatly rule out anything uncommon without physical, mathematical, or other proof.

It would just take an FW which installs a timer on the bird.
The timer is coupled with the MC such that you must update NFZ otherwise the Mavic's won't fly after expiry.
At any point you may be forced into downloading the grounding NFZ "update".
You must keep updating NFZ otherwise the timer will expire anyway.

China would force DJI into delivering the NFZ update.
Ofc a normal FW update would work equally well for grounding.
Whether China would do it, I don't believe so.
Hopefully everything remains only theory.

 

[Former Member]

Use Litchi, baby! While it doesnt bypass DJI Go 4 entirely, if something as unlikely as DJI trying to ground drones happens, Litchi could be used.

Do I personally think that DJI, due to a trade war, will disable their drones? Not too sure if they would or could. I do think that this trade war will end as quickly as it came as soon as both sides negotiate a settlement.

 

[Former Member]

Is it just me or is there any other people who truly hate if something is ruled out flatly?

It would just take an FW 1 which installs a timer on the bird.
The timer is coupled with the MC such that you must update NFZ otherwise the Mavic's won't fly.
At any point you may be forced into downloading the grounding NFZ "update".
You must keep updating NFZ otherwise the timer will expire anyway.

China would force DJI into delivering the NFZ update.
Ofc a normal FW update would work equally well for grounding.
Hopefully only theory.

Good point. Could they, probably. They have done it before with forced FW updates. But I think they would be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that. People would never, ever trust DJI again.

 

[Microwave89]

Good point. Could they, probably. They have done it before with forced FW updates. But I think they would be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that. People would never, ever trust DJI again.

IIRC they did so with the Spark. They had locked it in some way.
And yes, DJI would be pretty much toast.

 

[Former Member]

IIRC they did so with the Spark. They had locked it in some way.
And yes, DJI would be pretty much toast.

Maybe only lightly toasted.

 

[AMann]

You could realistically strip out the boards and some other parts like the sensors and start over by controlling it with open source firmware like Ardupilot or Arducopter:

ArduPilot :: About

and hardware like BeagleBone Blue:

BeagleBone Blue — Copter documentation

ardupilot.org

 

[Maviac]

Good point. Could they, probably. They have done it before with forced FW updates. But I think they would be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that. People would never, ever trust DJI again.

It wouldn’t matter because it’d be sued into oblivion (all its US divisions, anyway). Which is why it won’t happen (among other reasons).

 

[Former Member]

It wouldn’t matter because it’d be sued into oblivion (all its US divisions, anyway). Which is why it won’t happen (among other reasons).

The problem is that DJI has a good sized, in-house legal staff. They have no fear of litigation.

 

[Former Member]

You could realistically strip out the boards and some other parts like the sensors and start over by controlling it with open source firmware like Ardupilot or Arducopter:

ArduPilot :: About

and hardware like BeagleBone Blue:

BeagleBone Blue — Copter documentation

ardupilot.org

Arduino! Then you could also add some really fancy lights...

 

[AMann]

Arduino! Then you could also add some really fancy lights...

Thunderdrones could start a Pimp My Drone service with that!

 

[Maviac]

The problem is that DJI has a good sized, in-house legal staff. They have no fear of litigation.

Sure, but so do lots of much larger companies, and they lose cases too. In this case, It’s hard to imagine any viable defenses to an intentional crippling of a product that prevents its intended and advertised use.

 

[Meta4]

It would just take an FW which installs a timer on the bird.
The timer is coupled with the MC such that you must update NFZ otherwise the Mavic's won't fly after expiry.

Now all you have to work out is why DJI would want to do that.
Without an answer to that question, the rest of the scenario falls apart.

Good point. Could they, probably. They have done it before with forced FW updates.

Forced updates?
I've only seen one forced update a couple of years back for the P3 standard.
It was necessary and rolled out to correct a serious bug in the previous firmware.
But if you know of other instances, I'd be pleased to hear of them.

But I think they would be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that. People would never, ever trust DJI again.

Exactly

 

[Former Member]

Now all you have to work out is why DJI would want to do that. Without an answer to that question, the rest of the scenario falls apart.

Simple enough. Look at the first paragraph of this thread. He explains exactly what he means. If china (aka DJI) were to get angry enough, the OP speculates that DJI (China) could stop their products from working. It can and has been done.

Forced updates? I've only seen one forced update a couple of years back for the P3 standard. It was necessary and rolled out to correct a serious bug in the previous firmware. But if you know of other instances, I'd be pleased to hear of them.

@Meta4 (metaphor, briliiant!), it wasnt that long ago!

Date: May 2017
Place: The World
Situation: DJI insisted that every single DJI customer, not just Phantoms, update their drones or be restricted to pretty much beginner mode. And this quote, straight from the horses mouth (DJI being the horse)

"Live camera streaming will be disabled, and flight will be limited to a 50-meter (164-foot) radius up to 30 meters (98 feet) high. The feature applies to all aircraft (except standalone A3 and N3) that have been upgraded to the latest firmware or when using future versions of the DJI GO and GO 4 apps."

Now, if that isnt a forced update, nothing is.

Has DJI ever shot themselves in the foot before? Um yeah.

 

[Former Member]

Simple enough. Look at the first paragraph of this thread. He explains exactly what he means. If china (aka DJI) were to get angry enough, the OP speculates that DJI (China) could stop their products from working. It can and has been done.



@Meta4 (metaphor, briliiant!), it wasnt that long ago!

Date: May 2017
Place: The World
Situation: DJI insisted that every single DJI customer, not just Phantoms, update their drones or be restricted to pretty much beginner mode. And this quote, straight from the horses mouth (DJI being the horse)

"Live camera streaming will be disabled, and flight will be limited to a 50-meter (164-foot) radius up to 30 meters (98 feet) high. The feature applies to all aircraft (except standalone A3 and N3) that have been upgraded to the latest firmware or when using future versions of the DJI GO and GO 4 apps."

Now, if that isnt a forced update, nothing is.

Has DJI ever shot themselves in the foot before? Um yeah.

Ah, alas I forgot. 3 months after that required update, the US Army banned all DJI drones and required deletion of all DJI software. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, its a duck.

 

[Meta4]

Simple enough. Look at the first paragraph of this thread. He explains exactly what he means. If china (aka DJI) were to get angry enough, the OP speculates that DJI (China) could stop their products from working. It can and has been done.

I guess I wasn't clear enough.
What possible reason would DJI want to do that?
Are you aware of any company being so angry that they sabotaged their products in use?
It's such a preposterous suggestion, it really doesn't require an answer.

@Meta4 (metaphor, briliiant!), it wasnt that long ago!

Date: May 2017
...
Now, if that isnt a forced update, nothing is.

You misunderstood the issue. It was not a forced update.
For all the fear and panic that incident created, the update itself was still not forced on users.
DJI just brought in a requirement that, after an update the users had to sign out of the app and then sign in.

 

[Former Member]

@Meta4, I have to say, before I say anything else, you are one of the people I most enjoy debating with on the forum. Even though we disagree on pretty much everything, I value your opinion. You are also one of the top people on the forum when it comes to analyzing flight data and diagnosing problems. Im not kissing up, just telling you what I think. That being said, here goes...

I guess I wasn't clear enough. What possible reason would DJI want to do that? Are you aware of any company being so angry that they sabotaged their products in use? It's such a preposterous suggestion, it really doesn't require an answer.

Anger is an emotion. Business is business. Governments will forever be governments. Chinese are quite stoic people and dont respond to anger, or react with anger. They are keen and shrewd business people. Your question, "any company being so angry that they sabotaged their products in use?" the answer is yes and no. DJI is not simply a company, as much as it is a country. Would a country deliberately cut off sales to another country they are having a political battle with? You're dang right they would, and it wouldnt be out of anger, it would be for financial reasons. It has happened throughout history many times in prewar environments. Embargos are so 20th century. Now we have EMP weapons, Internet viruses ala N Korea and Russia, trolls, bots, etc. And last but not least, the ability of a foreign government to monitor and report back data to the homeland via seemingly benign devices such as our beloved Mavics.

The trade deficit between the USA and China is widening at an alarming pace. The US government is negotiating what can be done to tame it. Would China stop exporting products to the USA if a trade accord can not be reached? Yes they would because they couldnt afford not to. Would China disable already sold devices just to prove their point? Why not!

Back to my old argument about the Japanese. They are much easier to do business with than the Chinese. You know where you stand, they tend to be honorable. They are good negotiators but know when to back off. Koreans are very similar. It might be because they are not Communists and are not state run and owned.

It must be hard for DJI to compete being kneecapped by their own government all the time. On the other hand, they have unlimited financing as long as they do what their leaders want them to do.

Come on GoPro, PLEASE come out with a drone we can all be happy with so we dont need to deal with the insanity that is DJI any more.