On a bitter fall day in November,
twenty Deep Run High School Air Force ROTC students traveled to Reynolds
Community College to examine and fly a Caron East GPS-surveying drone above
campus grounds.
Caron East is one of the biggest
distributors of the type of drone that the students launched. The company is
also known for mapping all types of geographic locations, from local colleges
all the way to mapping the Swiss Alps.
Wen Andrews, professor and program head for the Department of Architectural and
Civil Engineering Technology at Reynolds, made this event possible by bringing
together Caron East drone experts and the Deep Run High School students.
As the students stepped off of the
bus, the drone was placed on the athletic fields for its flight. As the
students circled around, the functions and operation of the drone were
discussed. A Caron East expert also explained how the drone route was
pre-programmed. After the launch of the drone, the students watched it soar up
into the sky making perfectly aligned trajectories above the field where they
stood.
After about 10 minutes of flying
time, the drone circled around and flew back in for a landing on the grass. The
students gathered nearby for a quick recap before heading into a classroom.
As the students filed into the
computer-filled classroom, Wen Andrews and the drone expert brought up special
software that showed the trajectory that the drone took, as well as the photos
the drone procured throughout its mission. The students discussed different
aspects of the software as well as safety tips, planned vs. actual inflight
information, and general use of the software program.
Overall, the effect of this event
on the students was immense. Senior Master Sergeant Mark Granger, Deep Run High
School Air Force ROTC instructor, spoke about the benefit of this opportunity.
“The drone event was a huge success for our students. We use this technology in
the Air Force for several different applications, however the information about
agriculture use was interesting. We have implemented that application into the
new lesson plan for our cadets. They were excited about the technology and
agility of the drone, as was I,” stated S.M. Sergeant Granger.
Major Patrick Scholle, also an
instructor for the Air Force ROTC program at Deep Run High School, was also in attendance
and believed this to be a great learning experience. “I was thrilled,” stated
Scholle, “it was a really neat opportunity to take our students over there and
expose them to that kind of up-and-coming technology and give them the
opportunity to see what is out there. We read about it in books but to be able
to hold the drone and see it fly was amazing.”
Instead of just sitting in a
classroom hearing about drones and GPS technology this event gave the high
school students a chance to visit a college campus, actually watch a drone at
work, and then go into a classroom and see the data captured by the drone.
“This event also allowed us to
introduce the students to J. Sargeant Reynolds and show them that this is also
a great step to where they may want to get to in life,” stated S.M. Sergeant
Granger as the drone flew it’s path overhead.
