IEEE BEST DEMO AWARD
Indoor Autonomous Drone
A drone that navigates autonomously where GPS can't reach — using optical flow, camera vision, and custom embedded firmware.
Optical FlowComputer VisionEmbedded FirmwareSensor FusionControl Systems
◈ HERO PHOTO: drone in flight / on bench (best quality shot)
## Problem
GPS doesn't work indoors. Warehouses, hospitals, disaster zones — the environments where autonomous drones could help most are exactly where satellite positioning fails. Indoor autonomy demands the drone perceive and localize itself using only onboard sensing.
## Solution
A drone that fuses optical flow, camera vision, and inertial data to estimate position and navigate autonomously in GPS-denied environments — with the perception and control loops running on embedded hardware onboard.
## Demo
◈ VIDEO: autonomous flight demo (embed here)
## Features
- GPS-denied position estimation via optical flow
- Camera-based perception for navigation
- Sensor fusion of vision + inertial measurements
- Custom embedded firmware for real-time control
- Autonomous flight without external tracking systems
## Tech Stack
C / C++PythonOpenCVOptical Flow SensorsIMUFlight Controller
## Challenges
- Drift accumulation in optical-flow position estimates
- Real-time constraints on embedded compute
- Tuning control loops for stable indoor flight
## Lessons Learned
- TODO: your real war stories from flight testing
## What's Next
Recognition: IEEE Best Demo Award — presented at IEEE PIMRC. (TODO: year + exact citation)
## Gallery
◈ PHOTO: flight test
◈ PHOTO: electronics close-up
◈ PHOTO: IEEE demo booth / award