# Autonomous UAV & Drone Software Development

> I was the sole developer of all three software units of KAPGAN — the AI detection unit, the autonomous management unit and the ground control station — which won Turkey 1st and the “Most Original Software” award at Teknofest 2021. I bring the same discipline to your UAV: autonomous mission software, flight-controller communication, a ground control station and a simulation environment, end to end.

URL: https://furkanisikay.com/services/uav-software/

## Problems it solves

- The mission (takeoff, route, target detection, landing) has to run autonomously, with no human in the loop.
- MAVLink communication with the flight controller is unreliable; commands are delayed or lost.
- There is no simulation environment (Gazebo / ArduPilot SITL) to test software safely before field trials.
- Off-the-shelf ground control software does not cover your mission-specific screens, telemetry or server integration.
- You need control where GPS is unavailable or unreliable (for example, inside a factory).

## What you get

- Autonomous mission / main management software (Python, multi-threaded)
- ArduPilot flight-controller integration over MAVLink and DroneKit
- A mission-specific ground control station (C# / .NET): telemetry, mission screens, server communication
- A Gazebo + ArduPilot SITL simulation environment and test scenarios
- AI-based target / marker detection where needed (OpenCV, YOLO)
- Source code, setup and user documentation

## How we work

1. **Free discovery call:** I listen to your need, your current system and your goals, and we talk openly about what is technically feasible.
2. **Scope and quote:** A written scope, milestones, an exact price and a timeline. No surprise costs — what is included is clear from the start.
3. **Build and regular demos:** I work in short iterations and share a version running in simulation, plus a demo video, at every milestone.
4. **Test and handover:** End-to-end testing in Gazebo / SITL first, then field validation. Handed over with source code and documentation.

## Tech stack

Python, C#, .NET, MAVLink, ArduPilot, DroneKit, Mission Planner, ROS, Gazebo / SITL, OpenCV

## Related projects

- [KAPGAN Combat UAV](https://furkanisikay.com/projects/kapgan/)
- [Vision-Based Autonomous Precision Landing](https://furkanisikay.com/projects/goruntu-tabanli-hassas-inis/)
- [Armed Autonomous Strike UAV](https://furkanisikay.com/projects/silahli-otonom-vurucu-iha/)
- [5G-Enabled GPS-Denied UAV](https://furkanisikay.com/projects/5g-gps-siz-iha/)
- [Atmaca — LLM-Powered Autonomous UAV](https://furkanisikay.com/projects/atmaca-iha/)
- [Award-Winning Ground Control Station](https://furkanisikay.com/projects/yer-kontrol-istasyonu/)

## FAQ

### How much does UAV software development cost?

The price depends on the scope; there is no fixed price list. The easiest way to start is Discovery & Feasibility: 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.

### Which flight controllers and protocols do you work with?

My projects use ArduPilot-based flight controllers, the MAVLink protocol, DroneKit and Mission Planner, and ROS for swarm work. If you use a different autopilot, we assess compatibility together in the discovery call.

### How do you test the software before real flights?

I test end to end in simulation with Gazebo and ArduPilot SITL. For example, the vision-based precision-landing system runs the whole takeoff–search–centre–autonomous-landing loop in SITL, and its DroneKit/MAVLink architecture ports to a real vehicle.

### Can you add AI target detection to my existing UAV?

Yes. I built target-UAV detection with Faster R-CNN for KAPGAN and helipad detection with YOLOv3-tiny for the precision-landing system, and wired the detections to MAVLink commands. See the AI & Computer Vision service for details.

### Do you support Teknofest teams?

Yes — I offer one-on-one training and Teknofest consulting for teams. Details are on the UAV Training & Teknofest Consulting page.

### Do you work remotely, and in which languages?

Yes. I am based in Türkiye (GMT+3) and work remotely with clients worldwide; meetings are held in Turkish or English and scheduled around your time zone.

## Contact

- Free discovery call: https://www.softivation.com/book-online
- E-mail: contact@furkanisikay.com
- Phone / WhatsApp: +90 850 242 21 60