AI Drone Pilot Brain Advisor

I’m architecting an AI “pilot brain” for a drone that will undertake search-and-rescue as well as surveillance and monitoring missions. Before I commit to a full development cycle, I need an experienced mind to help me clarify the technical roadmap and avoid costly missteps.

Here’s what I want from our collaboration:
• A high-level system architecture that shows how perception, navigation, decision-making and control layers will interact.
• Recommendations on algorithms and open-source frameworks best suited to real-time object detection, tracking and autonomous route planning in challenging, GPS-degraded environments.
• Guidance on suitable onboard compute (NVIDIA Jetson, Raspberry Pi + Coral, etc.), sensor suites (RGB, thermal, LiDAR) and airframes, with pros and cons for each.
• A phased implementation plan—milestones, validation tests and safety checks—tailored to the search-and-rescue / surveillance workload.
• One or two live consultation sessions (video or voice) to walk through questions that arise while I refine the design.

Noted: it's a long term project and it will be paid by following the milestone we achieve.