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Case study, aerial surveillance

SKYLOCK, a drone detection and tracking system

A ground control station that finds drones in live camera feeds and turns a camera gimbal to keep them in view, first steered by an operator and then on its own.

A hardware, B software, C AI

The SKYLOCK desktop application in auto track. A red box marks a small drone against a pale sky, with its detection score above it, and a cross marks the centre of the view. A small circle sits just ahead of the drone, where the software predicts it is going. Gimbal angles run down the left side, and an inset on the right shows the camera gimbal on its tripod outdoors.
The console in auto track, with the gimbal itself in the inset.

What is SKYLOCK?

SKYLOCK is a drone detection and tracking system designed and built by WhiteHat Design Studio. It keeps a camera on a drone. Video from the camera on the gimbal reaches the ground control station, a detection model finds the drone in each frame, and the gimbal turns to keep it in view while the operator watches the console.

We built it in two phases. The first was remote operation: the operator steers from the console, at a distance from the equipment. The second was full autonomy: SKYLOCK picks up a drone and moves by itself to follow it, with no operator needed.

It joins three inputs. A is the physical system, with its STM32 control hardware. B is the console, a PySide6 desktop application with the live view, the controls and the tracking readouts. C is the detection and prediction that find the drone in every frame.

How SKYLOCK works.

  1. Watch the sky

    The camera on the gimbal streams its video over RTSP to the ground control station.

  2. Find the drone

    A YOLO26 detection model, from Ultralytics and run through TensorRT, finds drones in each frame and scores how sure it is.

  3. Predict its path

    A Kalman filter predicts where the drone is going, and the console marks that point on screen beside the drone.

  4. Keep it in view

    The console offers a joystick, pointer tracking and auto track. In auto track the gimbal follows the drone on its own, with no operator needed.

How SKYLOCK fits togetherThe camera on the gimbal streams live video over RTSP to the ground control station. There a YOLO26 model, from Ultralytics and run through TensorRT, finds the drone in each frame, and a Kalman filter predicts where it is going. In auto track the gimbal follows the drone, which moves the camera, and the loop starts again. The operator console, a PySide6 desktop application, offers a joystick, pointer tracking and auto track, and shows the detection score, the predicted point and the tracking error.mode, steeringloopGimbal cameraLive videoover RTSPOperator consolePySide6: joystick,pointer, auto trackGround control stationYOLO26 on TensorRT finds the drone,a Kalman filter predicts its pathGimbalFollows the dronein auto trackConsole readoutsScore, predictedpoint, error
Drawn from the project descriptions and what the console shows on screen.
The camera gimbal from behind, out of focus in the foreground of a garden, with a small drone in a clear sky above the trees.
The gimbal outdoors, with a drone above the trees.

On film.

Clips from the log. They have no sound, and each one says what happens.

0:21, no soundThe SKYLOCK console in auto track. A small drone crosses a pale sky; a red box marks it with its detection score, and a small circle shows where the software predicts it is going. An inset then shows the camera gimbal on its tripod outdoors as it follows. By the end the drone sits at the centre of the view.

Questions about SKYLOCK

What is SKYLOCK?

SKYLOCK is a drone detection and tracking system designed and built by WhiteHat Design Studio. It is a ground control station that finds drones in live camera feeds and turns a camera gimbal to keep them in view.

Can SKYLOCK follow a drone on its own?

Yes. The first phase was remote operation, with the operator steering from the console. The second was full autonomy. In auto track the gimbal follows the drone with no operator needed.

Which AI model does SKYLOCK use?

A YOLO26 detection model from Ultralytics, run through TensorRT, finds drones in each frame, and a Kalman filter predicts where each one is going.

Is this SKYLOCK connected to other drone products with the same name?

No. This SKYLOCK is WhiteHat Design Studio's own system. It has no connection with any other company or product that uses the name.

What we do not claim

  • No detection range, accuracy or response time is published yet. They will appear here once measured, with their conditions.
  • The readings on screen in the photograph and the clip are moments from one run, not measured results.

Sources

  • WhiteHat Design Studio, the SKYLOCK project description and tracking recording, 2026
  • TechXpert engineering portfolio, SKYLOCK, 2026

Published , updated .

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