Turkish team wins global UAV competition in the US

UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) team from Istanbul Technical University, namely ITUNOM, has won the world championship title at the AUVSI SUAS competition, the most prestigious UAV competition held in the United States.

Established in 2014, the team has achieved numerous successes both internationally and nationally. Participating in the AUVSI SUAS competition held in the United States every year since its establishment, ITUNOM UAV Team emerged as the first among 72 teams.

In previous years, here's what they have achieved:

• Second place in the recent Teknofest Freestyle Mission UAV Competition
• Third place in the 2021 Teknofest Combat UAV Competition
• Second place in the 2021 Teknofest UAV Competition
• First place in the 2019 Teknofest Combat UAV Competition
• Fourth place in the 2017 AUVSI SUAS Competition

Adding another success to their list of accomplishments, the team's popularity grows alongside their innovative vehicles.

Consisting of four sub-teams: software, mechanical, avionics (flight electronics), and promotion-sponsorship, the team comprises 25 members.

Simsek, which means lightning in Turkish

They are a multidisciplinary team with members from various faculties and departments. Following their rankings at Teknofest, Türkiye’s premier aerospace and technology festival, the team continues their work with the same dedication, drawing attention to their success in the United States.

Successfully completing the challenging video and report stages that many teams failed to accomplish, the team demonstrated great determination to fulfill their mission.

With their vehicle named "Simsek" (lightning in Turkish), they successfully completed tasks such as "object recognition and classification," "obstacle avoidance," and "dropping five payloads," securing the championship title.

The young team, aiming to break new ground in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles in Türkiye, will continue working on new projects with enthusiasm.

"We demonstrated what our country's youth is capable of by being the only team that autonomously completed all tasks successfully in the competition where 72 teams from 30 different countries participated," the team said in a social media post.

"We are experiencing the justified pride of reaching our goal after nights without sleep, dedicated efforts, and hard work, overcoming the thorny paths we walked on. We extend infinite gratitude to our teammates who persevered until the last moment, overcame all kinds of challenges, and will continue to show the same effort in the coming year, as well as to those who supported us!"

"We have flown to glory!"