WATCHDOG Z-1T · Autonomous Drone System
Always on guard.
WATCHDOG Z-1T: an autonomous drone and dock that launches, patrols, lands and swaps its own battery. Designed in Bangladesh.
Concept visualisation · Specifications are design targets
The problem
Surveillance stops when the operator goes home.
Persistent aerial security shouldn't depend on someone being awake, on site and available to swap a battery.
Drones need people to launch and charge them.
Every launch, every battery swap, every landing needs a trained operator on site — day and night, in any weather.
Foreign systems send your data abroad.
Off-the-shelf platforms stream video and flight data to overseas clouds. For sensitive sites, that is not acceptable.
Imported docks are expensive and hard to service locally.
Long lead times, costly spares and no local technicians mean a single fault can ground a system for weeks.
How it works
Alert. Launch. Detect. Return and swap.
A fully autonomous loop — no robot arm, no human in the loop for routine patrols.
- 01
Alert
An intrusion, a schedule or a remote command triggers the dock. The lid opens and the drone powers up.
- 02
Launch
The drone launches autonomously, climbs to patrol altitude and flies its mission plan with RTK-precise positioning.
- 03
Detect
Onboard AI runs person and vehicle detection on thermal and 4K feeds, flagging events to the control room.
- 04
Return & swap battery
It lands, centres on four cones, and a rotating battery drum swaps the pack in under 2 minutes — design target.
The swap
No robot arm. No human.
The drone lands, centres itself in four cones, and a rotating battery drum swaps the battery in under 2 minutes (design target). The spent pack goes onto a charger; a fresh one is delivered to the drone. The lid closes and the system is ready again.
- Four-cone mechanical self-centring on landing
- Rotating drum with independent chargers
- No external manipulator to maintain
Swap time under 2 minutes — design target
The aircraft
Compact. Quiet. Sensing in two spectra.
A quadcopter tuned for endurance and precision: thermal and 4K sensors on a stabilised gimbal, RTK GPS and a precision landing camera.
Aircraft specifications
- Flight time
- 25–30 minDesign target
- Working radius
- 5–7 kmDesign target
- Take-off weight
- ≈ 3.3 kgDesign target
- Cameras
- Thermal 640×512 w/ temp measurement · 4K w/ 6× digital zoomDesign target
- Positioning
- RTK GPS + precision landing cameraDesign target
- Onboard AI
- Person & vehicle detectionDesign target
The dock
A sealed armoured hangar that does the work.
Powder-coated steel, a rotating battery drum, independent chargers and weather sensing — the dock is the operator.
Dock specifications
- Size
- ≈ 85 × 85 cm, sealed powder-coated steelDesign target
- Batteries
- 3 batteries in a 4-chamber drum · 4 independent chargersDesign target
- Swap time
- Under 2 minutes (design target)Design target
- Weather
- Rain & wind sensors hold launchDesign target
- Power
- Backup power (UPS) for safe shutdownDesign target
The drum holds three batteries across four chambers with four independent chargers, so one pack can charge while another is in the drone — keeping the system ready without a human on site.
The battery
Standard cells. Precision adapter.
A standard lithium-ion pack in a precision adapter: easy to source, easy to replace. No proprietary chemistry, no specialised charging regime — just cells that any technician can swap and any supplier can provide.
- Standard lithium-ion cells
- Precision self-aligning adapter
- Field-replaceable in seconds
- Locally sourceable spares
Safety
Designed to fail safe.
Layered safeguards keep the system controllable, the site secure and the airframe recoverable.
Emergency stop
Hard stop that halts the drone and secures the dock immediately.
Door-open interlock
The dock cannot launch while the lid or service door is open.
Automatic return on signal loss
Loss of link triggers an autonomous return-to-home and landing.
Automatic return on low battery
A reserve threshold forces the drone back before the pack is depleted.
Geofence
A virtual boundary keeps the drone inside the authorised area.
Optional parachute
A ballistic recovery parachute brings the airframe down safely.
Built for Bangladesh weather
Monsoon-ready by design.
Heavy rain, heat and humidity are the default here, not the exception. The dock is sealed, raised and drained to match.
Sealed lid
A weatherproof lid keeps the drum and electronics dry when closed.
Filtered cooling
Filtered air vents manage temperature without letting water in.
Raised feet
The dock stands clear of standing water and rooftop pooling.
Drain
A drain slot at the base clears any water that reaches the platform.
Your data stays here
Built for data residency.
Sensitive surveillance footage should not leave the country. WATCHDOG Z-1T is architected to keep it local.
Servers in Bangladesh
Video and flight data stay on servers located in Bangladesh.
Encrypted link
The drone-to-dock and dock-to-server link is encrypted end to end.
No foreign cloud
Nothing is sent to an overseas cloud. Your data stays under your control.
Interface preview
One screen for the whole patrol.
A static mock-up of the control-room dashboard. Not functional — illustrative only.
DOCK-01 STATUS
ONLINELid
Closed
Charged
2 / 3
In drone
1 / 3
Dock temp
38.1°C
Wind
4.2 m/s
Battery drum
ALERT FEED
MOCK-UPPerson detected
23:40:52Sector 04 · perimeter breach · confidence 0.94
Battery swap complete
23:38:10Drum slot 3 → drone · 1m 48s
Wind hold released
23:31:044.2 m/s · within launch limits
Patrol started
23:30:00Mission PERIMETER-04 · 12 waypoints
Interface preview · Static mock-up · No live data
Roadmap
A platform, not a single product.
Each generation extends the airframe with more sensing and more range — without throwing away the dock.
Generation I
Z-1
Visible camera
The baseline airframe with a daylight visible camera for perimeter patrols and routine surveillance.
Generation II · Pilot
Z-1T
Thermal + 4K (pilot version)
Adds a thermal sensor with temperature measurement and a 4K camera with 6× digital zoom. This is the version offered in the supervised pilot programme.
Generation III · Planned
Z-2
30× optical zoom, laser rangefinder, longer range
A planned upgrade path: long-range optical zoom, a laser rangefinder and extended endurance for larger perimeters.
Generations III onward are planned. No performance beyond stated design targets is claimed.
Pilot programme
A supervised deployment, with acceptance tests in writing.
We offer a supervised pilot deployment with clear, written acceptance tests — so you can evaluate WATCHDOG Z-1T against measurable outcomes, not marketing claims.
Subject to site survey · Design targets only
Example acceptance tests
- 1Autonomous launch and landing on the dock
- 2Battery swap in under 2 minutes (design target)
- 3Onboard person and vehicle detection events
- 4Encrypted link to a Bangladesh-based server
- 5Safe return on signal loss and low battery
Full test plan agreed in writing before deployment.