Drone Maker DJI Adds Technology to Limit Where Its Machines Can Fly

DJI, a Chinese company that makes more small-scale drones than anyone else, announced on Tuesday a new, so-called geofencing system, which is a way to better control what a drone is flying over.

The system, built on flying restrictions DJI first introduced in 2013, promises continually updated information on a machine’s airspace. Information on something like an airport is already in the system; this might add something like a request by emergency personnel not to fly over a forest fire. 

“This is an example of the technology empowering operators to make smart decisions,” said Brendan Schulman, vice president of policy and legal affairs at DJI. “It’s an example of how technology solutions can address concerns.”

What action to take is often up to drone’s pilot, though it is clear that freedom of the skies faces increasing limits. The system has built-in restrictions around sensitive locations such as prisons and power plants, where potential payloads, not the flying itself, are a concern. 

By default, the drone won’t be operable in such places, though users who open DJI accounts will be able to self-authorize flights in some locations. 

Registering for those accounts will require verification from a credit or debit card, or a mobile phone number. DJI will apparently make the information available if there are legal investigations of flights, but it won’t collect or store the information for any other purpose for the free service. For national security locations (the company mentioned all of Washington as a “prohibited area”) even the override won’t work.

The move appears to be at least in part an effort to curb increasing regulation of drones.

Mr. Shulman spoke about privacy and safety issues expressed by individuals and regulatory authorities.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for the conduct of most of what flies around, wants to register drones, and is mulling how to further control an airspace suddenly plied by millions more operators.

As a result of new regulations, many companies besides DJI have taken steps to influence the rule-making. A number of interested parties, including Google, Amazon, GoPro, Parrot and 3D Robotics, are participating in the F.A.A.’s registration task force.

While DJI’s effort, which will go live in December, is proprietary, it shows a trend of building more awareness into the systems, which may become common among drone makers. It also shows an interesting conflict in building this artificial intelligence: DJI is leaving how to treat information about new “no fly” areas up to individual pilots.

One reason for this may be to avoid liability, either from offering a product that unnecessarily limits its buyers’ or from offering a product whose artificial “fencing” technology fails, opening it to lawsuits.

To Mr. Schulman, the new industry of drones is being unfairly singled out. “There is no other technology whose functionality is disabled by geography,” he said. “Your car’s speedometer goes to 100 miles per hour or more – it’s up to individuals to use that properly.”

Whether the government, from federal agencies to local municipalities, feels the same way about robots in space remains to be seen.