Konya Technical University · Since 2014

Pioneering
Autonomous
Systems Research

RACLAB is an interdisciplinary R&D laboratory at Konya Technical University, pushing the boundaries of robotics, automation, and intelligent control through cutting-edge research in UAVs, autonomous ground & underwater vehicles, and smart transportation.

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0+ TÜBİTAK Projects
0+ SCI-E Publications
0+ Competition Awards
0+ Industry Partners
RACLAB — Robotics Automation Control Laboratory
R Robotics A Automation C Control LAB oratory
2014 Founded

About RACLAB

Robotics, Automation & Control
Laboratory

Founded in 2014 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Akif DURDU, RACLAB is a project-based R&D laboratory at Konya Technical University where undergraduate and graduate students work alongside academics on real-world engineering challenges.

Our philosophy: students learn not only technical skills but also teamwork, communication, and product-development thinking through real problem scenarios.

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UAV Systems Fixed & rotary wing drones
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Autonomous Vehicles Ground & underwater robots
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AI & Deep Learning Perception & decision-making
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Industry Collaboration TÜBİTAK, KOSGEB, EU projects
Full Story Get in Touch
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Student Research Projects
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SCI-E Indexed Papers
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Awards & Championships
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Industry R&D Partners

Research Areas

What We Work On

RACLAB conducts advanced R&D across six core domains, integrating perception, planning, control, and communication into deployable autonomous systems.

Autonomous UAV drone with sensors

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Design and development of fixed-wing & rotary-wing UAV platforms. Autonomous flight, GPS-denied navigation, real-time image processing, swarm coordination, and indigenous flight control software.

SLAM Vision Swarm Deep Learning
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Autonomous ground vehicle in urban environment

Autonomous Ground Vehicles (UGV)

Sensor-fusion-based localization, lane detection, obstacle avoidance, path planning and autonomous control for self-driving car platforms and industrial AGVs.

LiDAR ROS SLAM AI Control
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Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)

GNSS-independent navigation using IMU–DVL–camera–depth sensor fusion, obstacle detection/avoidance, and autonomous mission planning for underwater environments.

DVL IMU Fusion Sonar
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Smart Transportation Systems

Smart Transportation Systems

IoT-based adaptive traffic signal control, V2I communication modules, digital twin technology for intersections, and AI-driven macroscopic traffic analysis software.

IoT V2I Digital Twin
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Human-Robot Interaction

Human-Robot Interaction

Estimating and reshaping human intention in collaborative HRI scenarios using HMM and OOM methods. Gesture recognition, action understanding, and safe motion planning.

HMM OOM Gesture
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Sensor Fusion and SLAM

Sensor Fusion & SLAM

Multi-sensor integration (IMU, LiDAR, camera, GPS) for robust state estimation, simultaneous localization and mapping, and multi-agent situational awareness.

LiDAR IMU EKF Visual SLAM
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Featured Projects

Our Active & Recent Projects

From national championships to EU-funded international research, our teams deliver real-world impact.

RACLAB SİGUN Robotaxi
Active 2021–Present

RACLAB SİGUN — Autonomous Robotaxi

AI-powered self-driving vehicle competing in TEKNOFEST Robotaxi championships. 2× "Best Original Software" award & 2× Runner-Up (2022, 2025).

Project Details
RACLAB NOVA Underwater AUV
Champion 2021–2025

RACLAB NOVA — Underwater AUV

Autonomous underwater vehicle with vision-based mission execution. TEKNOFEST 2025 Underwater Systems Champion & Best Team Spirit award.

Project Details
RACLAB TULPARS UAV
Champion 2017–Present

RACLAB İHA — Autonomous Drone

Multi-year TÜBİTAK UAV competition entry. 2019 National Champion · 2017 Runner-Up · Multiple Performance Awards (2023, 2025).

Project Details
Autonomous Outdoor Shuttle
Industry 2021–2025

Autonomous Outdoor Shuttle — MPG

Sensor-fusion-based autonomous shuttle for outdoor patrol/service missions. Developed in collaboration with MPG Machinery Production Group.

Project Details
K-TASK Smart Traffic
TÜBİTAK 1511 2018–2020

K-TASK — Coordinated Adaptive Signal Control

Fully adaptive, coordinated traffic signal control system for urban intersections. Developed with Innomotive under TÜBİTAK 1511 priority R&D programme.

Project Details
Agricultural Autonomous Robot
Active · EU Funded 2022–Present

Smart Sugarbeet Monitoring — ERA-NET

Satellite-controlled incentive system for sustainable sugarbeet production. International ERA-NET Cofund ICT-AGRI-FOOD project with Agrovisio.

Project Details
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Achievements

Competition Excellence

Since 2016, RACLAB teams have competed nationally and internationally, winning championships and recognition across 15+ competition platforms.

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TEKNOFEST 2025 — Underwater Systems Champion RACLAB NOVA · Best Team Spirit Award · Istanbul, 2025
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TÜBİTAK UAV Championship 2019 RACLAB Aybars · Rotary Wing Category National Champion
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OpenZeka MARC 2019 — University Champion Mini Autonomous Car — highest score among all universities
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TEKNOFEST 2025 — Robotaxi Runner-Up RACLAB SİGUN · "Best Original Software" Award (3rd time)
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AUVSI SUAS 2019 — 11th Place / 67 Teams (USA) International UAV Systems Student Competition, Maryland
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ODTÜ Robot Days — Multiple Champions (2020) RACLAB Tugberk · Autonomous UAV-Image Processing category
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TEKNOFEST UAV Awards
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Robotaxi Awards
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Underwater Awards
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International Awards
Full Awards List →

Our Team

The People Behind RACLAB

A multidisciplinary team of researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate engineers from Computer, EE, Mechanical, and Industrial Engineering.

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Prof. Dr. Akif DURDU

Lab Director & Principal Investigator

Electrical & Electronics Engineering

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Serkan Budak

PhD Researcher

Deep RL · Control Systems

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Sinan İlgen

PhD Researcher

Control Theory · Manipulators

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Gökberk Ay

PhD Researcher

Autonomous Systems · Navigation

Meet the Full Team →

Publications

Research Output

A comprehensive collection of journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, theses, and other academic outputs from RACLAB researchers.

42+
SCI-E Journal Articles
60+
Conference Papers
10+
Book Chapters
30+
MSc/PhD Theses
49+
Student Projects
11
Industry Projects

Latest Publications

1

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Control of a 1-DOF Helicopter: A Comparative Analysis

Serkan BUDAK, Cemil SUNGUR, Akif DURDU

Physica Scripta, Volume 101, Issue 2, Jan. 2026

SCI-E Journal 2026
2

A Unified Monocular Vision-Based Driving Model for Autonomous Vehicles with Multi-Task Capabilities

Salim Azak, Fırat Bozkaya, Şükrücan Tığlıoğlu, Abdullah Yusefi, Akif DURDU

IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, Vol. 10, Issue 9, Sep. 2025

SCI-E · WOS Q1 Journal 2025
3

LiDAR-Camera Fusion Based 3D Object Detection with Tracking Using Extended Kalman Filter

Şükrücan Tığlıoğlu, Fırat Bozkaya, Akif DURDU

TEKNOFEST 2025 / IEEE Conference, 2025

Conference 2025
4

Consensus-based Virtual Leader Tracking Swarm Algorithm with GDRRT*-PSO for Path-Planning of Multiple UAVs

Berat YILDIZ, Muhammet Fatih Aslan, Akif DURDU, Ahmet Kayabaşı

Swarm and Evolutionary Computation, Vol. 88, Article 101612, 2024

SCI-E Journal 2024
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Latest News

From the Lab

Stay up to date with RACLAB's latest competitions, research milestones, and announcements.

RACLAB TEKNOFEST 2025
Award TEKNOFEST 2025

SİGUN — 2nd Place & Best Original Software 🥈

RACLAB SİGUN secures its 3rd "Best Original Software" award and 2nd place at the national Robotaxi championship.

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RACLAB TULPARS UAV Free Category
UAV TEKNOFEST 2025

TULPARS — 3rd Place UAV Free Category 🥉

RACLAB TULPARS achieves 3rd place in the TEKNOFEST 2025 UAV Free Flight Category, adding another podium finish to RACLAB's record.

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RACLAB TEKNOFEST 2024
CompetitionTEKNOFEST 2024

RACLAB Teams at TEKNOFEST 2024 — Multiple Podiums

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RACLAB lab activities
AwardSep 2025

UDHAM Scientific Excellence Award — RACLAB Students

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RACLAB IEEE publication
Publication2025

New Paper in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles (Q1)

Read More
All News & Updates →

Industry Partners & Sponsors

Building Together

RACLAB actively collaborates with Turkish industry and international partners through TÜBİTAK, KOSGEB, and EU-funded joint R&D projects.

Atiker
Kapsul
Konya Büyükşehir
MPG
Ulaştırma Bakanlığı
Yeşilay
TÜBİTAK
KOSGEB
ERA-NET
Elfatek
MOSAŞ
Otobot
Agrovisio
Atiker
Kapsul
Konya Büyükşehir
MPG
Ulaştırma Bakanlığı
Yeşilay
TÜBİTAK
KOSGEB
ERA-NET
Elfatek
MOSAŞ
Otobot
Agrovisio
View All Partners →

Contact Us

Get In Touch

Interested in collaboration, student research, or industry partnership? We'd love to hear from you.

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Address

Konya Technical University
Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences
Electrical & Electronics Engineering Dept.
Konya, Turkey

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Website

www.raclab.org

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