I understand that this is a hack project (so doing for the sake of doing). But if I were going to create an autonomous/RC anything, I would start with Ardupilo

I understand that this is a hack project (so doing for the sake of doing). But if I were going to create an autonomous/RC anything, I would start with Ardupilot [0], which has off-the-shelf support for a lot of what's implemented here, like mapping, waypoint management, and even state estimation/control. You can buy a computer that can do all of this for pretty cheap. [0] https://ardupilot.org/rover/ https://ardupilot.org/rover/