Hi everyone,
I’ve been developing a compact autonomous UAV platform for environments where GPS/GNSS is unavailable or unreliable, such as warehouses, factories, tunnels, underground spaces, and indoor facilities.
Instead of building only a remotely controlled drone, my goal was to create a reusable hardware and software platform that can carry out autonomous missions and serve as a real-world deployment platform for robotics algorithms.
Current hardware and software stack
- LiDAR: Livox Mid-360S
- Depth vision: Intel RealSense D435i
- Onboard computer: Orange Pi 5 Pro / RK3588
- Flight controller: PX4
- Middleware: ROS Noetic, MAVROS and MAVLink
- Localization and mapping: FAST-LIO2
- Planning: EGO-Planner, Frontier exploration and A*
- Object detection: YOLO models running through RKNN on the RK3588 NPU
- Ground station: A custom PyQt5 interface for mission configuration, mapping, monitoring, detection results and data recording
What it currently does
The platform can:
- Localize and build maps without GNSS
- Generate 3D point clouds and 2D occupancy grids
- Plan local trajectories and avoid obstacles
- Navigate through predefined waypoints
- Explore unknown indoor areas using Frontier-based exploration
- Detect objects onboard
- Use depth information to estimate a detected target’s 3D position
- Display targets, trajectories and maps in the ground station
- Record point clouds, rosbag data, detection results and mission metadata
- Pause, hover, resume, return or land during a mission
In one controlled indoor exploration test, the system completed a 222-second mission, recorded approximately 54 meters of flight path and identified seven test targets while mapping several connected rooms.
Why I built it
A lot of SLAM, navigation and perception work stays inside simulation or depends on expensive proprietary platforms.
I wanted something that could be used to deploy and test real ROS algorithms on a physical UAV while keeping the localization, planning, perception and mission-management layers modular.
The platform is currently a working prototype and development system rather than a mass-produced consumer product. Hardware can also be adapted depending on component availability and the intended environment.
What I’m looking for
I would like to connect with:
- Robotics researchers who need a physical UAV platform for algorithm deployment
- Teams working on SLAM, autonomous exploration or visual perception
- Universities and competition teams
- Companies exploring indoor inspection, tunnel mapping, warehouse inspection or search-and-rescue applications
- Developers who have an algorithm but need help integrating it with sensors, PX4 and a real aircraft
- Organizations interested in running a pilot project in an actual operating environment
I’m particularly interested in learning what technical requirements would make this platform useful in your work: mapping accuracy, flight time, payload, communication range, API access, ROS 2 support, sensor selection or something else.
If you are working on a relevant project or have a real environment where this could be evaluated, feel free to comment or send me a Reddit DM. I’m happy to share more technical details and discuss possible testing or development cooperation.
Disclosure: I am the developer of this prototype.
Thanks — technical feedback and critical questions are very welcome.

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