Overview
Overview
Port Drone Fleet is a managed quadcopter operation for container terminals and harbour authorities — autonomous yard scanning, perimeter patrol, ship-shore inspection, and emergency response, all dispatched from a single console with full BVLOS regulatory paperwork handled.
Built for ports that want to replace 80% of routine yard walks and fence patrols, get a top-down ground-truth of every container's position daily, and respond to alarms (fire, smoke, intruder, oil-spill) within minutes rather than the time it takes a vehicle to drive there.
- Autonomous yard scans — reads container IDs top-down, reconciles to TOS
- Perimeter patrol — AI intruder / climbing / loitering detection on a fixed loop
- Ship-shore inspection — hull, lashing, hatch-cover, deck-cargo visual checks
- Drone-in-a-box — auto-charge, auto-launch, no on-site pilot needed for routine missions
How It Works
- Drone over yard — a quadcopter flies a programmed serpentine pattern at ~45 m altitude with a 4K downward camera. The camera cone projects across a yard block, capturing every container top in one pass.
- Mission + vision engine — waypoint mission planner manages the flight; an on-board / edge CNN detects and OCRs ISO 6346 container IDs, perimeter intruders, smoke / fire, and ship hull defects.
- Dispatch cloud — aggregates missions across the fleet, tracks battery and weather windows, surfaces TOS yard-position mismatches and security alerts to operators.
- Security ops — pilots monitor a live feed with HUD overlays, can trigger RTH or LAND, and route alarms (intruder, mismatch, hull defect) to the right on-duty officer with one-tap GO.
The purple feedback loop sends RTH commands, mission re-tasks and geofence updates back to every drone in the fleet.
Features
- Autonomous yard inventory — reads 80-100% of stacks daily, reconciles to TOS
- Drone-in-a-box (DiaB) — weatherproof landing pad with auto-charge and battery-swap
- BVLOS-ready — we handle SORA / CAAB / FAA Part 107 waiver applications
- Multi-drone orchestration — airspace deconfliction across 4-12 drones simultaneously
- AI detector library — container ID, intruder, smoke / fire, hull defect, oil-spill, PPE
- Live HUD — first-person view with telemetry overlay for pilots and security ops
- Weather-aware — auto-cancel on wind / rain / lightning thresholds
- Open APIs — native TOS, VMS (security CCTV), SOC, customs integrations
Use Cases
- Container yard inventory — daily top-down ID reconciliation against TOS
- Perimeter security patrol — replace foot / vehicle patrols on long fence lines
- Ship hull & lashing inspection — pre-departure visual checks of deck cargo
- Emergency response — first eyes on fire, smoke, oil-spill or collision incidents
- Crane / quay inspection — routine top-of-crane and high-mast visual surveys
- Environmental monitoring — oil-sheen, particulate, noise on a regular grid
Specifications
- Airframe: Industrial quadcopter, ~3 kg MTOW, 30-40 min flight time
- Cameras: 4K downward + 30x zoom oblique, optional thermal (640 px)
- Comms: 5 GHz proprietary + LTE failover, encrypted control link
- Wind tolerance: Operates to 12 m/s gust, hover-hold to 15 m/s
- Drone-in-a-box: IP55 pad, auto-charge / cool / heat, 5G back-haul
- Fleet size: 1-12 drones per port, multi-DiaB orchestration
- Regulations: SORA-ready, CAAB / FAA / EASA documentation included
- Security: AES-256 link, geofence enforcement, hardware kill-switch
Product information
| Product name | Port Drones |
|---|---|
| Category | Port & Logistics |
| Type | IoT Based Product |
| Procurement | Contact / Negotiable |
Customisation options
- Airframe — light (1.5 kg, 25 min), industrial (3 kg, 40 min), or heavy-lift (8 kg, 30 min, dual-payload)
- Payload — 4K + 30x zoom, thermal (640 px), LiDAR, multi-spectral, or speaker / strobe
- Drone-in-a-Box — 1, 2, 4 or 8 DiaB sites across the terminal for full coverage
- Detector library — container ID, intruder, PPE, smoke / fire, oil-sheen, hull defect — pick any combination
- Comms — 5 GHz proprietary, LTE, 5G, or mesh repeaters for long quays
- Operation — SGT-managed (we fly), client-piloted (we train), or hybrid
- Regulatory pack — we file SORA / waiver / NOTAM for your jurisdiction
- Integrations — TOS, VMS (Milestone, Genetec), SOC, customs — REST / MQTT / ONVIF
Ordering & lead time
Standard lead time depends on current stock. For volume orders, please contact our team for a structured quote including BOQ, freight, installation and warranty terms.
Support
Engineering support, installation guidance and warranty claims are handled by our customer success team. Reach us at support@sgtsystems.com or via the channels listed on our Contact page.