AI drones for security and monitoring: an agent that analyses every flight
An autonomous drone records hours of video every night. No control room can watch all of it. The DroneBase AI Agent analyses the stream in real time, recognises people, vehicles and anomalies, classifies the events that matter for your site and delivers them to your VMS, with alerts and ready-made reports. The operator decides, instead of searching.
Want to understand the drone-in-a-box system first? Autonomous drone video surveillance · DroneBase Monitoring Centre
An AI agent that watches every flight for you
Not one more analytic on fixed cameras: an agent that works on moving aerial video, with events pre-configured for your type of site and a language your team understands without training.
People, vehicles and anomalies on live video
Continuous detection on the live stream, by day and with the thermal camera at night: people in unauthorised areas, vehicles with type, plate and direction, cut fences, open gates, moved material, custom objects.
Events classified by threat level
Every detection is an event with a name, a category (security, inspection, incident) and a priority: an armed intrusion does not land in the same queue as a gate left open.
Automatic report at the end of each mission
Every flight produces a structured report with photos, clips and coordinates for each event. The operator reviews it, instead of writing it. The same report serves security, inspection and audit.
Alerts where your team already works
Multi-channel escalation: alarm panel, VMS, email, ticketing. And in the opposite direction: an alarm from the VMS or a perimeter sensor launches the drone to verify.
An agent for every type of site
Each agent comes with dozens of pre-configured events, split between security, inspection and incident management. You start from your sector's set and add what is missing.
Detect anything, by describing it in words
Permanent custom events. Write what you want to monitor, for example "vehicle stopped at gate 3 for more than one minute" or "damaged support structure". The event joins the agent's set and applies to every subsequent flight, with no model retraining and no technical tickets.
Forensic search. After the mission, ask in chat what you are looking for: the frames come back from the recordings in under 300 milliseconds, without re-watching the video.
It learns your site. If the agent gets something wrong at a specific spot, the operator corrects it once: the correction stays tied to those coordinates and applies to every future flight.
From take-off to alert, with nobody staring at a monitor
The drone lives in the dock, takes off on schedule or on alarm, and the agent works from the first frame. Five steps, all traceable.
Patrol or alarm
A scheduled mission in the high-risk hours, or take-off on an event from the VMS, a perimeter sensor or the Monitoring Centre.
Perception check
Before and during the flight the agent assesses target, altitude and light. If detection is not reliable it suggests what to do: switch camera, move closer, wait.
Live video analysed
People, vehicles and objects detected in real time on the EO/IR stream; AI tracking on the target even when moving and partially occluded.
Classification and alert
The event receives a name, a category and a priority, and escalation starts towards the VMS, alarm panel, email or ticketing. The operator video-verifies and decides.
Report and archive
Automatic report with photos, clips and coordinates; geo-referenced video archived and searchable in plain words.
The agent's events land in the VMS you already use
The control room keeps working on the same platform as yesterday. The drone appears as one more source, the agent as one more source of alarms. No migration.
RTSP / RTMP and ONVIF
The drone's stream enters the VMS like a camera: ONVIF Profile S, T and G, low-latency H.265 encoding.
Events to PSIM, SCADA and ticketing
RESTful APIs and SDKs: every event classified by the agent becomes an alarm, a ticket or a record in the system you already use.
From the VMS to the drone, and back
An alarm from fixed cameras or a perimeter sensor launches the verification mission; the outcome returns to the VMS as an event with video.
DroneBase Monitoring Centre
With the managed service, video verification and escalation are staffed 24/7 by the DroneBase Monitoring Centre, under LUC certification, compliant with EN 50518 Cat. 2.
RBAC and audit trail
Operator, supervisor and admin roles; immutable logs exportable to SIEM; SSO, LDAP and MFA.
Cloud, on-premise or hybrid
Video and detections in your account's region or in an isolated deployment where the client requires it.
Where the AI agent makes the difference
Same platform, different agent: the pre-configured events change with the site. Four scenarios where aerial video analysed in real time replaces hours of human viewing.
Perimeter security
Night patrols for industry, logistics and security companies: person climbing over, cut fence, vehicle circling the site, slow repeated passes. The agent flags, the drone follows, the operator decides.
Plant monitoring
Solar farms, substations, oil & gas: thermal hotspots, faulty modules, open containers, material loaded onto a vehicle. Security and inspection in the same flight, with a report for both.
Infrastructure
Railways, motorways, ports: presence in the right-of-way, vandalism, copper theft, obstacles on the line. Geo-referenced events ready for the client and for investigations.
Construction sites and quarries
Access to hazardous areas, machinery out of hours, material leaving the site, damaged support structures. The dock can also be installed on a vehicle for mobile sites.
An AI that recognises events, not people
Objections to an aerial video analysis system come from the legal department before they come from security. Here is how the project addresses them, before the order.
Data protection impact assessment (DPIA)
Every installation starts from the impact assessment required by the GDPR, included in the suitability assessment: purposes, legal basis, risks and measures, per site.
Masking and non-relevant areas
Areas outside the perimeter are masked; the agent works on events (intrusion, open gate, stopped vehicle), not on monitoring people.
Privacy notice and defined retention
Privacy notice, retention periods and access roles defined for each site, with immutable logs for audit.
TLS 1.3 and AES-256 encryption
Data encrypted in transit and at rest, HSM support for high-security environments, architecture designed for the NIS2 requirements of critical infrastructure.
Your data does not train the base models
Operator corrections only improve the agent serving your site. Video and detections stay in your archive, in your account's region or on-premise.
LUC ENAC and aviation liability
Missions, including BVLOS, are authorised under the DroneBase LUC (EU Reg. 2019/947). With the managed service, aviation liability stays with DroneBase.
Traditional video surveillance and AI drones, side by side
The fixed cameras stay. What changes is who watches the video, who reaches the spot and who writes the report.
Traditional video surveillance
- Static coverage: blind spots stay where they are
- Someone has to stare at the monitor, or the event goes unnoticed
- Alarm without verification: patrol in 15–30 minutes, often for a false positive
- Impossible to follow a person or a vehicle on the move
- Every question about the past means re-watching hours of video
- Reports written by hand at the end of the shift
- More area, more cameras, more fixed costs
Drones with AI agent
- Aerial view over the whole area, by day and with thermal at night
- The agent analyses live video: it flags, the drone follows, the operator decides
- Video verification before escalation: fewer false call-outs
- Multi-subject AI tracking, even with partial occlusions
- Forensic search in plain words, answer in under 300 ms
- Reports ready at the end of the mission, with photos, clips and coordinates
- New events added in words, with no model retraining
We agree the KPIs. We measure them at 90 days.
Fewer missed events, faster response, reports ready before the end of the shift: we define the targets together at kick-off and verify them on your site's data.
Two ways to have it. The AI agent is included in both.
Own the system and operate it with your organisation, or receive the result without touching hardware or paperwork. You can start one way and switch to the other.
- DJI Dock 3 with 12-month warranty and Matrice 4TD with 1-year DJI Care Enterprise Plus
- Platform with AI Agent configured for your sector and your site
- Installation, power supply, RTK/NTRIP, commissioning and VMS integration
- LUC regulatory start-up: CONOPS, EASA SORA, OM-LUC
- Operator training and SLA contract for maintenance and lifecycle
- Also available as an operating lease with a tax-deductible fee (Italy)
- Scheduled missions on a 12, 16 or 24-hour window, up to one flight every hour
- Agent events video-verified 24/7 by the DroneBase Monitoring Centre
- Operational in 12 days, ENAC paperwork included, missions under the DroneBase LUC
- No pilots to hire, no shifts to cover
- Maintenance, obsolescence and updates included
- Contractual SLA up to 99.9% uptime and scalability to new sites
They work with us: technology in service on railway, port, motorway and energy infrastructure
Frequently asked questions about AI drones for security
How is the AI Agent different from my VMS analytics?
VMS analytics work on fixed cameras. The AI Agent analyses the drone's moving aerial video, with events pre-configured by sector and customisable in plain words. The two add up: a VMS alarm can automatically launch a verification mission and the control room works from a single interface.
What does the agent actually detect?
People, vehicles (type, plate, direction) and anomalies on the site: perimeter breaches, open gates, armed threats, vandalism, theft, crowds, suspicious behaviour, plus inspection events such as thermal hotspots or damaged structures. The General security agent starts with 34 events; each sector has its own set.
Can I add an event that is not foreseen?
Yes, by describing it in words: for example "vehicle stopped at gate 3 for more than one minute". The event joins the agent's set and applies to every subsequent flight, with no model retraining and no technical tickets. You can also add temporary detections valid only for the current mission.
How many false alarms does it generate?
The agent assesses perception conditions before and during the flight and, when the operator corrects an error at a specific spot, the correction stays tied to those coordinates for future flights. The false-positive rate is one of the KPIs we agree at kick-off and measure at 90 days on your site's data.
Where is the data processed and stored?
Video and detections stay in the platform's archive, in your account's region, or on-premise where required. Your data is not used to train the base models: operator corrections only improve the agent serving your site.
Is it compatible with the GDPR and with employee privacy?
Every installation includes an impact assessment, masking of non-relevant areas, a privacy notice and defined retention periods. The agent recognises security events, it does not monitor people. The documentation kit for legal, IT and procurement is part of the assessment.
Do I need a pilot or an ENAC authorisation?
It depends on the option. With the purchase we train your operators and support you with authorisations, including the LUC regulatory start-up. With DAAS nobody is needed: we fly, under our own LUC certification, from the DroneBase Monitoring Centre.
Can I see it working before deciding?
Yes. The autonomous-flight suitability assessment is free for companies, infrastructure operators and public bodies on sites in Italy and ends with a live operational demo, on your site or on a reference site, with your sector's events. VMS integration is verified before the order and is not invoiced if it does not work.
Why DroneBase
Since 2012, Europe’s reference point for professional UAV technology
DJI Super Gold Dealer, the only one in Europe. Headquarters, warehouse, service centre and demo area in Rimini, Italy: you see the system working before you buy it, and this is where it comes back for maintenance and updates.
- ISO 9001 certified — certified quality in sales, training and service
- Training with certified instructors — DroneBase Academy, pilot certificates and STS scenarios
- Technical and regulatory consulting on complex scenarios, ENAC and EASA
- R&D for complex projects and tailor-made integrations
- Full support, before and after the sale, with a dedicated technical contact
Let's talk about your site
Find out in thirty minutes whether your site is suitable for autonomous flight and how the AI agent integrates with your VMS. Fill in the form: one of our specialists takes charge of your request and gets back to you with technical and commercial information and, if needed, to arrange a consultation or a demo. No commitment.
