“No geofence restrictions” has often been a selling point for Autel drones. But now, it looks like the drone manufacturer is upping the ante on airspace safety by introducing a compulsory No-Fly Zone database in the United States. This new geofencing feature comes with the latest firmware update (v2.7.25) for the EVO II drones.
With this addition, Autel EVO II drones are now equipped with geofencing capabilities in the US, Japan, Australia, as well as the Greater China area. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that these capabilities will be enforced. The drone manufacturer says:
This update is based off of your drone’s GPS location and not your mobile device location. Unless you’re a user that’s in a country that requires that we restrict you in a No-Fly Zone, you will only see notifications in your local airspace. You will not be restricted from taking off.
So, what this means is that while Autel is not going to stop you from taking off in restricted airspace – yet – the dronemaker hopes that you will be responsible enough to make the right decision yourself once it has made you aware of the aviation laws in the local airspace.
How geofencing is being added to Autel EVO II?
Once you’re on the latest Autel Explorer app (v1.10.11 for iOS and v1.17.73 for Android) and firmware versions, and you have an internet connection, the update will be automatically downloaded from your app up to your aircraft.
The following video provides instructions on how to update firmware over the air:
