Thanks to DJI’s new invention called “Aeroscope” it is now possible to track rogue drones in prohibited areas. The Aeroscope is a system that is capable of detecting drones flying within an airspace. The Aeroscope has already been deployed in Camarillo Airport in California, where it helps to stop drones from venturing into the airport’s airspace. Airports are restricted airspace, where drones are not permitted because they can pose significant threat to pilots and aircraft. This is why the Aeroscope system has a lot of potential in preventing possible collisions.

Nick Martino, an operations supervisor at Camarillo Airport patrols the sky with Aeroscope on a daily basis. In one particular incident when Martino was patrolling the airport with Aeroscope, the system detected a drone being flown by a pilot about ten miles from the airport. The drone detection system spotted the drone and prevented it from causing any accidents.

The FAA predicts that by the year 2020 more than seven million personal and commercial drones will be flying around our skies. This has a serious implication for the American airspace. There has already been several reported cases of unauthorized drone flights over restricted areas around the country from airports to sporting events.

Aeroscope’s operation is based on its capacity to detect the communication signal between a DJI Controller and a DJI drone. Once the system detects the signal, it decodes it and sends the drone’s telemetry data as well as the pilot’s information to the Aeroscope system. This enables the operators of Aeroscope to have access to the personal information of pilots flying the drones. Aeroscope reveals the email address of the drone pilot which would enable public safety officials like Nick Martino to establish contact with the drone pilots.

With access the email addresses and contact information of these pilots, this creates an opportunity to educate such pilots regarding the dangers of flying drones in restricted airspace without proper authorization.

The Aeroscope system at the moment only tracks DJI drones which has about a  65 percent market share. However, an update in the future could make the system also able to detect drones made by other manufacturers. Industry analysts believe hat Aeroscope is just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to monitoring and protecting our skies.