The software of the Russian company CopterSafe allows DJI owners of copters to bypass flight restrictions

Company DJI is known to many fans of quadrocopters. It produces universal models of devices that are capable of much. The company started from scratch in 2006, and in ten years managed to grow to a large international corporation, which now owns about 70% of the drones market.



Previously, such devices flew where the owner sent them, but over time, officials from different countries imposed a number of territorial restrictions on flights, also limiting the maximum possible speed of movement and, in some cases, altitude. For example, you cannot launch devices near objects of national importance (in the US, this is the White House and other buildings). In addition, recently, almost the entire zone of Syria, Iraq and some other countries is closed to flights. The company DJI imposes software restrictions on the produced drones, so that the owners of drones could not violate the established rules.



But it is clear that buyers of quadcopters do not like all this - because if the device is yours, then they need to be fully disposed of, many are unhappy with the restrictions. The developers believe that the function No Fly Zone (NFZ) allows you to save your customers from trouble. But customers prefer to worry about their own security.



In order for the drone operators to know where their device will not work, the company has created a site where no-fly zones are indicated. There are a lot of them. In general, any airport in the world, even though it is large, although small, is a zone of no flight for UAVs, you can also not manage the drone at the stadiums (if it is not a licensed system and operator), military bases and national parks. In addition, in many countries there is a limit on the height of the flight of private UAVs.



The company imposed these restrictions not on its own will - the fact is that due to violations of its customers, who previously did not pay any attention to the status of the zone - flight or not, DJI repeatedly issued warnings and fined, so the company had to add as a speed limit , and No Fly Zone.



This decision is very controversial, and, as mentioned above, many are dissatisfied with it. Therefore, immediately after the appearance of restrictions, there were craftsmen who began to look for ways to circumvent them. And these solutions began to be in demand, there were willing to pay. One of the Russian companies, Coptersafe, began to make money on creating jailbreaks of various models of copters, and modifications are offered different - both software and hardware.





The result is the same - modified copters can fly at any speed (naturally, taking into account their own technical capabilities) and in any region of their choice. Coptersafe jailbreaks save GPS work, which in this case does not need to be disabled.



The creators of the company are confident that the owners of the drones must decide for themselves what to do with their devices. “It's very good that DJI is concerned about security,” said a Coptersafe spokesman. "But I believe that these restrictions should be set at the local level."



The company tries to make its decisions as simple as possible. And they are really popular, despite the fact that there are other ways to lift the ban on flying in some areas. “We receive positive feedback from our customers. They are happy because they can use drones purchased from DJI as they see fit, ”said Coptersafe.



Some drones operators, however, doubt that such a decision is legal. But verification requires contacting a lawyer, and lawyers do not work for free. Therefore, some representatives of the community of operators drones from DJI even make attempts to organize a fundraiser to check the legality of such modifications.



As for the manufacturer of copters, the company's management opposes any modifications: “We are against any attempts to disable the security system.” DJI representatives argue that such modifications may affect the performance of the drone, and no one can say whether the aircraft will work correctly after the changes are applied and whether there is a technical failure at the critical moment (for example, when flying at an aerodrome) lead to fatal consequences.





DJI fears are not groundless. For example, in 2015, the US Open tennis match was interrupted due to the fall of the drone. Then no one was hurt, the copter fell in the deserted part of the stadium, but the spectators and athletes were frightened, having decided that it was a terrorist attack. “I must say, I was a little scared. I mean, because of everything that is happening in the world right now, I decided that this is a bomb. That was my first thought, ”said Flavia Penetta, a participant in those competitions.



The French authorities have repeatedly stated that over some nuclear power plants, of which there are many in this country, often hang drones, which are controlled by an unknown operator / operators.



So we can say that both regulators who prohibit flights in certain zones are right, as well as owners of copters who want to use all the capabilities of their devices without restrictions.