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About RACLAB

Robotics, Automation & Control Laboratory

Founded in 2014 at Konya Technical University — where students, engineers and academics build autonomous systems that compete nationally and internationally.

2014
Year Founded
49+
TÜBİTAK Student Projects
32+
Competition Awards
11+
Industry Partners

Laboratory Director

Principal Investigator

Prof. Dr. Akif DURDU

Prof. Dr. Akif DURDU

Professor, Electrical & Electronics Engineering · Konya Technical University

Prof. Dr. Akif DURDU is the founder and director of RACLAB. His research focuses on autonomous systems, unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, sensor fusion, human-robot interaction, and intelligent transportation systems. He has supervised over 49 TÜBİTAK student projects and numerous industry R&D collaborations with companies such as Elfatek, MOSAŞ, Otobot, MPG, and Agrovisio. Under his leadership, RACLAB teams have achieved championship titles at TEKNOFEST and top placements at international competitions including AUVSI SUAS in the USA.

🌐 Personal Website 📚 Google Scholar 🏛️ University Page ✉️ adurdu@ktun.edu.tr
RACLAB — Robotics Automation Control Laboratory

Robotics · Automation · Control · Laboratory

Our Mission

Building the Future of Autonomous Systems

Founded in 2014 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Akif DURDU, RACLAB is a project-based R&D laboratory at Konya Technical University. 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. Computer, Electrical-Electronics, Mechanical, and Industrial Engineering students collaborate on the same projects.

RACLAB uses national and international competitions as part of its R&D culture — TEKNOFEST, AUVSI SUAS (USA), OpenZeka MARC, ODTÜ Robot Günleri, and TÜBİTAK 2242 are among the regular platforms.

Meet the Team Get in Touch

Research Focus

What We Work On

RACLAB's research spans six core domains, integrating perception, planning, control, and communication into deployable autonomous systems.

🚁

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Fixed-wing & rotary-wing UAV platforms, indigenous flight control software, autonomous flight, GPS-denied navigation, swarm coordination, real-time image processing.

🚗

Autonomous Ground Vehicles (UGV)

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

🌊

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)

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

🤝

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)

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

🚦

Smart Transportation Systems

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

📡

Sensor Fusion & SLAM

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

Track Record

Competition Awards & Achievements

32 major awards from 2016 to 2025 — national championships, international placements, and special awards across UAV, UGV, AUV, and robotics categories.

3rd
Yıldız Savaşları — Serbest Kategori (2016)M. Fatih Arslan & M. Mustafa Kelek — "Yardımsever Alışveriş Robotu"
3rd
13. ODTÜ Robot Günleri — Serbest Kategori (2016)B. Özşen — Mayın Arama Robotu + Jüri Özel Ödülü
2nd
TÜBİTAK İHA Yarışması — Döner Kanat (2017)S-Air takımı
2nd
15. ODTÜ Robot Günleri — İnovasyon Kategorisi (2018)M. Şen, M. İlker Ekmen, M. Ali Baygın — "Aktif Güvenlik Robotu"
2nd
TEKNOFEST'18 — İHA Döner Kanat (2018)S-Quad takımı
3rd
TEKNOFEST'18 — İHA Döner Kanat (2018)S-Air takımı
2nd
16. ODTÜ Robot Günleri — İnovasyon (2019)M. Duramaz, E. Öztürk, M. Aslantaş — "Otonom Temizlik Robotu"
🏆
OpenZeka MARC — Üniversite Kategorisi (2019)Şampiyonluk — En yüksek puanla birinci
🏆
TEKNOFEST'19 — İHA Döner Kanat Şampiyonluğu (2019)RACLAB Aybars takımı
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17. ODTÜ Robot Günleri — Otonom İHA (2020)RACLAB Tugberk — Şampiyonluk
3rd
TEKNOFEST'20 — Akıllı Ulaşım (2020)RACLAB Intelligent Transportation Team
★
TÜBİTAK 2242 — Sosyal Yenilikçilik Teşvik Ödülü (2021)"Yapay Zekâ Destekli Akıllı Temizlik Robotu"
2nd
TEKNOFEST'21 — Akıllı Ulaşım İkinciliği (2021)RACLAB Intelligent Transportation Team
★
TEKNOFEST'21 — Robotaksi "En Özgün Yazılım" (2021)RACLAB SİGUN
3rd
18. ODTÜ Robot Günleri — Otonom İHA (2022)RACLAB Aybars — Üçüncülük
★
18. ODTÜ Robot Günleri — İnovasyon Mansiyon (2022)RACLAB Aspar takımı
★
TEKNOFEST'22 — Robotaksi "En Özgün Yazılım" + Performans 1. (2022)RACLAB SİGUN
★
TEKNOFEST'22 — Sürü İHA "En İyi Takım Ruhu" (2022)RACLAB takımı
2nd
TÜBİTAK 2242 — Savunma/Uzay/Havacılık (2022)"Su Altı Aracı Kontrol Kartı" projesi
4th
TEKNOFEST'22 — Akıllı Ulaşım (2022)RACLAB takımı
★
TEKNOFEST'23 — Tarımsal İKA "En Özgün Tasarım" (2023)RACLAB ARES takımı
★
TEKNOFEST'23 — İHA Döner Kanat "Performans Ödülü" (2023)RACLAB İHA takımı
★
TEKNOFEST'23 — İHA Sabit Kanat "Performans Ödülü" (2023)RACLAB MERKÜT İHA takımı
3rd
TEKNOFEST'23 — Robotaksi Performans 3. (2023)RACLAB SİGUN
2nd
TEKNOFEST'24 — Robotaksi Performans 2. (2024)RACLAB SİGUN
★
Ulaşan ve Erişen Türkiye 2053 — Mansiyon (2025)"Hava Ray Devriyesi" — Halil İbrahim Köse & Eren Berk Saç
2nd
TEKNO-SEL 2025 — Serbest Proje İkinciliği (2025)Şahan Mirza Özdemir, Elif Su İbiş, Seher Tiryaki
7th
TEKNOFEST'25 — İnsansız Deniz Aracı (2025)RACLAB EZEL takımı
🏆
TEKNOFEST'25 — Su Altı Sistemleri Şampiyonluğu (2025)RACLAB NOVA + "En İyi Takım Ruhu" Ödülü
2nd
TEKNOFEST'25 — Robotaksi 2. + "En Özgün Yazılım" (2025)RACLAB SİGUN
3rd
TEKNOFEST'25 — İHA Serbest Kategori 3. (2025)RACLAB TULPARS İHA + Danışman Üçüncülüğü
3rd
TEKNOFEST'25 — Sanayide Dijital Teknolojiler Mansiyon (2025)RACLAB FAAL takımı

🌍 International Achievements

AUVSI SUAS 2018 (USA) — 20th out of 70 teams in first participation. AUVSI SUAS 2019 (USA) — 11th out of 67 teams. Both competitions featured autonomous flight, obstacle avoidance, object detection, classification, localization, payload drop, and communication challenges using indigenous software and hardware.

Industry & R&D

Industry Collaborations

RACLAB actively supports university-industry collaboration through TÜBİTAK, KOSGEB, and EU-funded joint R&D projects with Konya-based companies.

TÜBİTAK 1501 · KOSGEB

Autonomous Mission Robot & REKÜ (Robot Electronic Control Unit)

Design and development of autonomous mission robots and their electronic control units for factory and industrial environments. Power management, motor drivers, sensor interfaces, embedded software.

Partner: Elfatek Electronics · 2020–2025

KOSGEB

IoT-Based AI Autonomous Mobile Robots & Fleet Management

Development of IoT and AI-based autonomous mobile robots integrated with fleet management systems. Data analytics, mission planning, and autonomous decision-making algorithms.

Partner: Otobot · 2024–2025

TÜBİTAK 1501/1507/1832

Smart Intersection Network & V2I Communication

IoT-based adaptive traffic signal control, V2I communication modules, digital twin technology for smart intersections, and cloud-based macroscopic traffic analysis (World Bank-funded).

Partner: MOSAŞ Group · 2018–ongoing

TÜBİTAK 1501

Autonomous Orchard Spraying Machine

Design and prototype manufacturing of an intelligent autonomous spraying machine with smart mapping capabilities, variable-rate spraying, sensor fusion, and autonomous path planning.

Partner: Önallar Agriculture · 2025–ongoing

ERA-NET Cofund · EU Project

Satellite-Controlled Sugarbeet Production System

International ERA-NET ICT-AGRI-FOOD project for satellite-controlled sustainable sugarbeet production. Remote sensing, agricultural data analytics, GIS integration.

Partner: Agrovisio · 2022–ongoing

In-house R&D

Autonomous Outdoor Shuttle Application

Sensor fusion-based position estimation, route planning, active obstacle detection and avoidance for autonomous shuttle deployment in outdoor environments. Field-validated system.

Partner: MPG Machinery Production · 2021–2025

RACLAB

Join or Collaborate with RACLAB

We are always looking for motivated students, researchers, and industry partners. Whether you are a student wanting to join a team or a company seeking R&D collaboration — get in touch.

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