Drone monitoring: DJI offers its identification technology via smartphone
DJI has shown a technology that allows you to identify all the newly produced drones nearby. It is a method of encouraging the correct use of remotely piloted aircraft.
DJI is working on new technology that could allow anyone with a smartphone to keep track of all drones flying nearby. The novelty comes at a time when we are looking for a way to allow the use of remote-guided aircraft in transparency and safety for those who are nearby. DJI direct “ drone-to-phone ” technology uses a Wi-Fi-based solution to remotely identify drones.
Drone tracking technology will be made available to the public through a smartphone app, the company said, and there will be no need to use external peripherals or accessories. By taking advantage of only the Wi-Fi integrated in the smartphone.
The user can use the DJI app to obtain the identification number of the drone, as well as the exact position, flight height, speed and direction towards which it is proceeding. The app will arrive according to DJI in 2020, after approval by the regulatory bodies of the various countries.
The push towards the development of remote identification technologies of drones derives from the need to find methods to prevent misuse of devices in the sector, such as breaking into the routes of commercial flights or for espionage purposes.
The sighting of drones has recently caused major delays at airports in different parts of the world, with some operators having been forced to install expensive anti-drone defense systems. DJI’s new proposal is certainly much cheaper and more sustainable.
The company has stated that its app will be able to identify aircraft at distances of up to 1 kilometer, using smartphones compatible with the Wi-Fi Aware functionality. Note that the system will not only work on drones designed and marketed by DJI, but with all drones made in recent years.
To date, unfortunately, a list of compatible drones is missing. The new system, the company specifies, is not as powerful as AeroScope, but is more versatile: in that case, DJI proposed the technology to other manufacturers, but no one seems to have accepted.
On the other hand, AeroScope allows the identification of drones at much higher distances, sometimes equal to kilometers of distance like the command-and-control systems present in aircraft. This is a system far preferable in larger public places, such as prisons, stadiums or sports poles, unlike the new system operating via Wi-Fi it only works on DJI drones.
