Never had this happen - but just read something, so want to know what 'would' happen...

If you fly in a "yellow"/caution zone - I am assuming that is 'okay' (obviously, you take caution).

But - if somehow you got into whatever the 'next' zone is - would the drone just "not enter" it - or - someone said it just "automatically" lands where it is? Isn't that REALLY bad for it just to "auto-land" instead of letting you move back - because you might say land in the middle of a lake, in the middle of a road, or in a forest, etc, etc...?

What happens if you approach an area you aren't supposed to enter (not sure what the different "zones" are - again, I mainly fly in fields, so never had this happen - but just want to know).

You will receive a warning first, then it will land. And yes, not very desirable.

Geebax Posted at 7-3 20:19
You will receive a warning first, then it will land. And yes, not very desirable.

what are teh 'different' zones?

I am assuming 'yellow' is okay - but what is the "warning" zone it will give you before it does a forced landing?

djiguy001 Posted at 7-3 22:17
what are teh 'different' zones?

I am assuming 'yellow' is okay - but what is the "warning" zone it will give you before it does a forced landing?

You can learn more about the various zones here: https://www.dji.com/au/flysafe/geo-map

AFAIK, from my own experience and also from what I've read in posts over the years, as you approach a restricted area, first you get the warning, then it'll bounce off an invisible wall.  And that's all that would happen.

The only way it would enter the restricted zone is if it temporarily lost GNSS.  Then it could enter the zone, regain GNSS, and then find itself in the restricted zone past the invisible wall.  So in that case it would auto land.  

My P3P manual, page 43, seems to imply this too, although it's not explained particularly well.  

Somebody can correct me if they think I'm mistaken.

Mark The Droner Posted at 7-4 04:32
AFAIK, from my own experience and also from what I've read in posts over the years, as you approach a restricted area, first you get the warning, then it'll bounce off an invisible wall.  And that's all that would happen.

The only way it would enter the restricted zone is if it temporarily lost GNSS.  Then it could enter the zone, regain GNSS, and then find itself in the restricted zone past the invisible wall.  So in that case it would auto land.  

You are 100% correct.  I work in a restricted area and flew outside the boundary, up towards the "invisible wall."  It would not let me past.  It never tried to auto-land.  I just kept getting a funny voice telling me I was in a restricted area.

Okay... now - since it the areas are actually 'cone' shaped - if you somehow hit the invisible wall (i.e., lost GPS due to cloud cover, etc - went in, etc) - would it just auto land 'until' it got out of the cone? (So you could control 'where' it landed?)

And/or - if somehow you got in that area & it's doing a force landing - can you at least move sideways so you can make sure you wouldn't land say in the middle of a road, etc?

Thanks!

djiguy001 Posted at 7-4 05:47
Okay... now - since it the areas are actually 'cone' shaped - if you somehow hit the invisible wall (i.e., lost GPS due to cloud cover, etc - went in, etc) - would it just auto land 'until' it got out of the cone? (So you could control 'where' it landed?)

And/or - if somehow you got in that area & it's doing a force landing - can you at least move sideways so you can make sure you wouldn't land say in the middle of a road, etc?

I would be very difficult to lose GNSS due to cloud cover.  It's more likely to lose it in other ways such as an intermittent connection between your FC and your GNSS module or a compass problem which causes temporary loss of GNSS, or an unfavorable tilt of your AC relative to visible satellites (it's happened to me).  It's extremely rare for any of these things to happen though - especially just as you happen to be approaching a restricted area.  It's really not something to fret about.  

Theoretically I think you are correct, if you found yourself in bevel-edged rectricted area, it would descend out of the restricted area and the forced auto land would be cancelled so that it would hover or otherwise respond to your control input as usual.  But I've never heard of this situation actually happening in real life for obvious reasons.

Yes, you can always steer it down during a forced descent.  If it's a P3 or above, I believe you have the ability to stall the auto-land while you fly horizontally by moving the left stick up.  One member, though, insists this doesn't work on the P3S.  

This is why I will never buy another model air craft with geo fencing built in. My next drone will be home built. The Phantom was fun and convenient, but has too many intentional crippling bugs.

Nick M Posted at 7-4 05:14
You are 100% correct.  I work in a restricted area and flew outside the boundary, up towards the "invisible wall."  It would not let me past.  It never tried to auto-land.  I just kept getting a funny voice telling me I was in a restricted area.

The voice was in Russian or something.  It's weird how DJI doesn't fix certain things like that and the compass calibration.  I've found out to always nose down as it works better and doesn't ruin the camera gimbal motor.