Future UAV/Drone Systems for Intelligent Active Surveillance and Monitoring

The rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has fueled the widespread adoption of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones across various fields, including their use in applications such as surveillance and monitoring. UAVs flight capabilities allow it to effortlessly access previously inaccessible locations, providing real-time, high-resolution data—images and videos—of any desired area or target. Furthermore, the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and edge computing technologies has empowered UAVs with high computational capabilities, making them suitable for diverse applications such as agriculture, transportation and border security. These technology advancements also equip UAVs with powerful on-board processing for sophisticated decision-making that enhances UAV activeness and intelligence. This survey explores the promising areas of UAVs for intelligent active surveillance and monitoring across diverse applications. First, the various levels of UAV activeness within applications are discussed; second, prior research is examined to identify the key technologies and architectures that power intelligent UAV systems; and third, several UAV applications in surveillance and monitoring, ranging from basic tasks to highly intelligent operations are explored. Finally, the survey concludes by discussing emerging research challenges and outlines a guiding road map for future research of highly interdisciplinary and emerging areas in UAV-based systems for surveillance and monitoring.