New system uses drones to identify unauthorized activity while minimizing invasiveness, providing a dynamic and responsive security solution for homes and businesses.
by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb
Alarm.com Inc recently secured a new US patent (numbered US2023005256) to facilitate drone-based pre-surveillance of buildings. Pre-surveillance is a process designed to identify key facts about a subject before engaging in real surveillance, with Alarm.com arguing that drones could provide a compelling monitoring solution in homes and commercial properties, tracking the actions of individuals on/near the property without becoming overly invasive.
Similarly to how Alarm.Com’s video analytics services work with their cameras, the UAV-based pre-surveillance system is designed to identify unauthorized actions (such as an unauthorized person in a loading area after hours) and allow the security operator to react dynamically, without over-reacting to authorized activity.
The full abstract reads as follows: “Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a storage device, for using a drone to pre-surveil a portion of a property. In one aspect, a system may include a monitoring unit. The monitoring unit may include a network interface, a processor, and a storage device that includes instructions to cause the processor to perform operations. The operations may include obtaining data that is indicative of one or more acts of an occupant of the property, applying the obtained data that is indicative of one or more acts of the occupant of the property to a pre-surveillance rule, determining that the pre-surveillance rule is satisfied, determining a drone navigation path that is associated with the pre-surveillance rule, transmitting, to a drone, an instruction to perform pre-surveillance of the portion of the one or more properties using the drone navigation path.”
Alarm.com has long been interested in integrating UAV operations into a broader security context, first partnering with Qualcomm as early as 2017 to develop “guard dog” drones designed to protect homes and commercial/industrial property. More recently, they announced a new partnership with Sunflower Labs on an autonomous security drone solution, designed to allow surveillance over an entire property with minimal intervention.
The original patent release is available here. More information on Alarm.com is available here.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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