Unmanned Aerial Systems Prototyping

The Drone prototyping and problem-solving workshop series led by Dr. Christopher Vo is back for Fall 2023! Last semester, the MIX ran an 8-week drone prototyping and problem solving workshop series that brought in local industry partners to lay out an emergency response challenge to participants - how can you utilize drone technology to solve real problems faced by first responders?

Over the 8-week course, student teams learned how drones operate, assembled and tested their own drone, and researched a real-world problem that they want to solve. They were challenged to develop a prototype solution- and at the end of the 8 weeks pitch it to a group of judges from our industry partners. There were 30 students representing 19 different majors participated in the program.

The program will return for Fall 2023 starting September 21st! The application deadline is Friday, September 15th at midnight.

The workshops will begin on Thursday, September 21st and will be held every Thursday from 4:30-6:30PM, and run for 9 weeks with final presentations held November 16th. Some sessions may end early, but will use the full length of time for the build sessions. Notice of acceptance will be sent by the end of day, September 19th.

9 WEEK COURSE OUTLINE:

  • September 21 - Week 1 Kickoff, intro Drone technology and history, wildfire and emergency response challenge presentation (2 hours)

  • September 28th - Week 2 Drone kit construction, parts, motors, and controllers overview. Wildfire problems identified; solutions researched. (3 hours)

  • October 5 - Week 3 Emergency preparedness: Fire & PD

  • October 12 - Week 4 The Art of the Pitch with Fred Briggs, and Pitch Tips with Gisele Stolz

  • October 19 - Week 5 Drone kit construction, parts, motors, and controllers overview. Wildfire problems identified; solutions researched. (2 hours)

  • October 26 - Week 6 Technology experimentation and prototyping

  • November 2 - Week 7 Testing and flight training.

  • November 9 - Week 8 Practice demonstrations, video and picture capture, documentation, pitch presentations to fellow teams

  • November 16 - Week 9 - Final Pitch Presentations. (2 hours)