Autonomous Aerial Systems

Spectre Aviation

We engineer autonomous drones that solve real-world problems — built to be capable, affordable, and actually deployed.

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Flagship Project

Project Horizon.

Our autonomous search & rescue drone — thermal, LiDAR, and onboard AI, for a fraction of commercial cost. Tap to explore.

What we do

Autonomous flight, applied to the real world.

We’re an engineering studio making advanced UAV technology genuinely accessible — open-source flight stacks, onboard AI, and hands-on hardware that gets deployed.

Autonomous Flight

Aircraft that take off, navigate, and land on their own — no pilot required.

AI & Computer Vision

Onboard perception — real-time detection, tracking, and 3D mapping on the aircraft.

Real-World Deployment

We partner with first responders to put our technology to work where it matters.

Who we are

Two builders. One mission.

Founded by two 17-year-old engineers from Howard County, Maryland, united by a belief that powerful technology should be capable, accessible, and built to make a real difference.

Vedansh Patel

Co-Founder

Vihaan Sammeta

Co-Founder

Contact

Let’s build something.

Sponsors, partners, mentors, or just curious — we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch

Capabilities

Six systems. One mission.

Thermal Detection

See heat through smoke and darkness.

A FLIR Lepton 3.5 thermal core detects human heat signatures through smoke, darkness, and light foliage — finding people that ordinary cameras miss.

AI Human Detection

Onboard intelligence that finds people.

A YOLOv8 neural network runs live on both thermal and daylight feeds, identifying humans and streaming their GPS coordinates to the ground station in real time.

ATOL · Flagship Capability

Automatic takeoff and landing.

One command launches the entire mission. Horizon handles takeoff, search, and a precision GPS-guided landing entirely on its own — airborne in seconds, no pilot required.

LiDAR Terrain Mapping

Real-time 3D awareness.

A 360° RPLiDAR S2 paired with FAST-LIO2 SLAM builds live 3D maps of the environment, letting Horizon navigate rubble, structures, and dense woodland autonomously.

Everything it needs. Nothing it doesn’t.

Autonomous Grid Search
Flies programmable search patterns over any defined area, hands-free.
Night Operations
High-power LED arrays and thermal vision for zero-visibility conditions.
Failsafe Systems
Auto return-to-home on low battery or signal loss, with geofencing.
Live Telemetry
Real-time video, detections, and flight data streamed to the ground.

Tech Specs

Engineered to find people.

Frame & Flight

FrameiFlight Nazgul Evoque V2 F6X

Flight ControllerMatek H743-WING · ArduPilot

MotorsEMAX Eco II 2807 1300KV ×4

BatteryOVONIC 6S 4000mAh ×2

Intelligence

ComputeRaspberry Pi 5 · 8GB

AI ModelYOLOv8 Human Detection

MappingFAST-LIO2 SLAM

AutonomyATOL · Auto Takeoff/Land

FrameworkROS2 Humble · MAVROS

Sensors

Primary LiDARRPLiDAR S2 · 30m 360°

Altitude LiDARBenewake TF02 Pro · 40m

ObstacleBenewake TF-Luna ×2

GPSHolybro M10 · u-blox

Optics & Comms

ThermalFLIR Lepton 3.5

DaylightRunCam Split 4

GimbalStorm32 BGC 2-axis

VideoWalksnail Avatar HD 32GB

TelemetryHolybro SiK V3 915MHz

Bill of Materials

Complete transparency. Every part, every price.

Every component, sourced and price-verified.

iFlight Nazgul Evoque V2 F6XFrame

$130

Matek H743-WING V3Flight Controller

$100

EMAX Eco II 2807 1300KV ×4Motors

$105

Raspberry Pi 5 8GBCompanion Computer

$80

RPLiDAR S2Primary LiDAR · 30m 360°

$320

FLIR Lepton 3.5 + PureThermal 3Thermal Camera

$300

Benewake TF02 ProAltitude LiDAR

$90

Benewake TF-Luna ×2Obstacle Sensors

$60

RunCam Split 4Daylight Camera

$70

Walksnail Avatar HD VTX 32GBVideo Transmit

$155

Storm32 BGC 2-axis GimbalGimbal

$64

Radiomaster Ranger Micro ELRSRC Link

$60

Holybro SiK V3 915MHzTelemetry

$59

Holybro M10 GPSGPS / Compass

$44

OVONIC 6S 4000mAh ×2Batteries

$103

Matek FCHUB-12S + INA228Power System

$56

LED Array, Speaker & ConnectorsSearch Lighting & Audio

$36

Total Build~$2,200