Armed Autonomous Strike UAV

Teknofest 2022 TÜBİTAK Open-Mission UAV finalist: a hexacopter that runs the entire mission — from takeoff to strike — autonomously. I coded its "brain", the main management unit.

Build one like this Video

among ~50 finalists: 9.
performance award: Ödül

Role: Main control unit (the autonomy brain)
Period: 2022
Field: UAV and drones · Autonomy, AI and vision
Status: Teknofest 2022 · Finalist (9th)

Tech stack

Python
Computer Vision
Gazebo / SITL
MAVLink
Multi-threading

01 · Overview

Overview

Built for the Teknofest 2022 TÜBİTAK Open-Mission UAV category, this hexacopter performs fully autonomous target detection and strike. I wrote the main management unit — the brain of the UAV — and validated it in simulation.

02 · Solution

Autonomy Chain

The management unit ran autonomous takeoff, flight, target detection, lock, strike and landing as a state machine. Based on detections from the AI unit, it commanded the flight controller over MAVLink to complete the detect-track-strike mission unmanned. I tested every scenario in Gazebo / SITL before going to the field.

03 · Result

Outputs & Results

We placed 9th among roughly 50 finalist teams and won a performance award, running the full autonomous takeoff-mission-landing loop on a real field (mission and test flights in the videos).

04 · Overview

What I Learned

This is where I learned to manage the gap between simulation and real hardware (latency, sensor noise, safe-abort logic), extending the autonomy architecture I had built for KAPGAN to a more complex mission chain.

Autonomous Mission Flow

1TakeoffAutonomous takeoff
2FlightAutonomous cruise
3DetectAI target detection
4LockLock on & track
5StrikeAutonomous strike
6LandingAutonomous landing

3D Model

Drag to turn it; tap a number.

Parts and what they did

Gallery

Video

First autonomous flight — field test (2022)

Videos

Want a fully autonomous mission UAV?

I write the autonomous management unit that runs the whole flow from takeoff to mission completion, and validate it in simulation.

For example:Autonomous takeoff–mission–landingAI-based target/object detectionSafe testing in Gazebo/SITL

Outcome of this project: Finalist (9th / ~50 teams) · Performance Award
First step: Discovery & Feasibility — Free; Requirements analysis · Technical roadmap · Rough plan and proposal document. Discovery and feasibility are free. The price and timeline of the project itself depend on its scope and come as a firm quote at the end of that work.

I'll build the same for you

Tell the assistant what you need — we will talk through whether I can build something like this, the approach and the free first step right away, and it books a time that suits you.

Book a free discovery call