{"id":944,"date":"2017-07-25T12:52:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T12:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/headlines\/?p=944"},"modified":"2023-12-22T12:55:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T17:55:21","slug":"nasas-new-technology-paralyzes-drones-that-enter-restricted-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/headlines\/2017\/07\/25\/nasas-new-technology-paralyzes-drones-that-enter-restricted-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s new technology paralyzes drones that enter restricted areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA recently demonstrated a system called\u00a0Safeguard<\/a>, which disables a drone if it fails to respond to a warning and enters a designated no-fly zone. It can also impose altitude limits on drones.\u00a0Mashable<\/em>\u00a0declared, \u201cNASA’s drone killer does not play around<\/a>,\u201d describing how the system can enforce no-fly zones of any size or shape, forcing drones to drop from the sky if they proceed toward a no-fly zone.<\/p>\n

Safeguard uses a small piece of hardware attached to the drone to both monitor the drone’s location and potentially take over the drone’s controls if the drone approaches a restricted area. The system has two zones, or levels of warnings before the drone reaches the restricted space. The first zone is a \u201ccontainment boundary,\u201d where the drone is sent a signal instructing it to take corrective action. If the drone, or its autopilot, does not correct its course and continues into the second zone, the drone is disabled and forced to land. This is the \u201cterminate\u201d zone. The two zones are shown in the image below, with yellow being the containment zone and red being the terminate zone.<\/p>\n

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Image Credit: NASA.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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Geofencing<\/h2>\n

Drones (and drone operators) have made the news for operating in prohibited areas, from dropping phones and drugs to prisoners<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0interfering with firefighting efforts<\/a>. US lawmakers recently\u00a0proposed mandatory geofencing<\/a>\u00a0to restrict airspace for drone flight, both\u00a0hobbyist\u00a0and commercial.<\/p>\n

Commercial drone companies,\u00a0such as DJI<\/a>, have added GPS-based geofence systems to their drones. The no-fly zones are programmed into the drones\u2019 geofence system, first warning operators if they approach a geofenced area, then restricting flight if the drone proceeds into a restricted zone. Geofencing helps reduce the threat of accidental, dangerous drone encounters or malicious attacks. However, it is highly reliant on GPS availability and uncertified autopilot technology.<\/p>\n

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Safeguard system<\/h2>\n

Safeguard takes geofencing one step further. It can be used on both fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones. Safeguard overcomes three common technical challenges of typical geofencing:<\/p>\n