STEM Workforce Development: Interstate Drone League for KSEA Communities (iDrone KSEA) held on November 14, 2020
Submitted by Jae Hyeon Ryu, Idaho Chapter President
Drones (also known as unmanned aerial systems or UAS) are commonly used for many civil applications, including but not limited to transportation, precision agriculture, real estate business, delivery service, law enforcement, public safety, and more. Thanks to technology improvements on smartphones and various sensor devices, broad drone applications are likely to increase over the next few decades. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) workforce development programs, however, are often limited in helping KSEA youth (6th – 12th grade students) fly drones safely and legally through and allowing them to understand the fast-moving drone technology to solve real-world problems. As such, the Interstate Drone League) was developed to benefit KSEA communities (iDrone KSEA) in partnership with the iDrone Program (https://www.idroneprogram.org) led by Dr. Jae Ryu (Idaho Chapter) at University of Idaho.
Due to the global pandemic (COVID-19), the first iDrone KSEA took place online via Zoom virtual meeting platforms on November 14, 2020 (http://idrone.ksea.org). The goal of iDrone KSEA is to inspire future STEM workforce to understand basic concepts in automatic controls, robotics, and unmanned aerial systems. The iDrone KSEA is a hands-on STEM online camp for KSEA youth (6th – 12th grade students) by building drones using parts from scratch, coding/programming them with the open-source Arduino Integrated Development Environment (Arduino IDE) software. During the camp, students also learn how to control motors and to stabilize drones by changing flight patterns such as pitch, yah, and roll. A series of cloud-based e-learning platforms, including Google Sites (for course websites), YouTube (for video-based asynchronous learning modules), Padlet (for social and collaborative tools), and Zoom virtual meeting was used to broadcast iDrone STEM education modules seamlessly. This STEM e-learning modules include drone building, coding, mission plan, and poster session to brainstorm and share their drone design idea as a team. Additionally, older kids (15 years old and above) have an opportunity to learn about federal regulations and safety guidelines for drone pilot license, Part 107 administered by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
More than 100 people (76 students, 25 Zoom breakout session coordinators and volunteers, 10 observers) have joined iDrone KSEA online across the states, including Alabama (Alabama Chapter), California (Southern California Chapter and Silicon Valley Chapter), Idaho (Idaho Chapter), Illinois (Chicagoland Chapter), North Carolina (North Carolina Chapter and Eastern Carolina Chapter), Georgia (Georgia Chapter), and Texas (Southern Texas Chapter). The iDrone KSEA was a full-day camp starting 8:00 AM PDT/9:00 AM MDT/10:00 AM CDT/11:00 AM EDT ending 4:00 PM PDT/5:00 PM MDT/6:00 PM CDT/7:00 PM EDT with reasonable break time between sessions.
Based on feedback from pre-camp survey and post-camp survey, the iDrone KSEA went very well in the sense that most of students indicated satisfactory camp event and likelihood of returning for an advanced iDrone camp in the future. Under the unusual circumstances associated with COVID-19, this pilot online camp funded by the Overseas Korean Foundation (OKF) was very productive and rewarding. We, KSEA, really appreciate their strong support and look forward to working with them to benefit more KSEA youth in the years to come. The global pandemic may limit our social activities, but never stop our passion to learn good things!
Note: Special thanks go to iDrone Coordinators (Alphabetic order by last name): Chae, Eunjung (California), Cho, Namwoo (North Carolina), Choi, Joon-Ho (California), Han, Hyo-Joo (Georgia), Jung, Seungwon (Illinois), ), Kim, Dongjin (Idaho), Kim, Eiru (Texas), Kim, Gloria (Florida), Kim, Jinsoo (Texas), Kim, Mintai (Virginia), Kim, Samuel (California), Kwon, Bongkyung (Goergia), Lee, Myon Hee (North Carolina), Moon, Steve (California), Oh, Tae-Sik (Alabama), Park, Jeongwon (Nevada), Son, Yeongwon (Nevada), Song, Jeong Chang (Georgia), Yang, Steve (North Carolina).
<Fig 1. The Interstate Drone League for KSEA Communities (iDrone KSEA) flyer>
<Fig 2. A group photo after drone building session>
<Fig 3. A group shot from Zoom breakout sessions>
<Fig 4. Coding exercise in Zoom breakout room 2 (BRS)>
<Fig 5. Joint force by brothers for drone coding and building from scratchs>
<Fig 6. Assembled iDrone>
<Fig 7. Mission plan exercise for autonomous drone flight from Zoom breakout room 4>
<Fig 8. A drone design for environmental monitoring>
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