On September 13, UMBC AIAA hosted its semi-annual Drone Day where over the span of 8 hours, participants had the opportunity to design, build, and fly their own airplane or quadcopter. This experience helped students develop a fundamental understanding of the design process underlying engineering projects, as well as the technique behind controlling flying unmanned aerial vehicles.
The event began with an introduction of our organization, what we do, and how our competition teams operate. Afterwards, students formed into groups of 4-5 and split between ITE 229 for drones and ITE 227 for airplanes, upon which they were instructed in the designing, building, and flying process by AIAA leadership and active members.
Will Vandenburg and Shrikant Bhatnagar led the drone room with an initial presentation on assembling drones and common mistakes that are made during this process. Afterwards, they consistently traveled from group to group, offering assistance and expertise whenever possible. After assembling the frame, at least one member of each group was taught how to solder the motor wires onto the drone's central flight controller. For many, this was their first time soldering and we are proud to provide them with this formative learning experience!
After lunch, most of the teams finished assembling their drones and moved onto programming their flight controllers with instruction from Will & Shrikant. After the drone teams finished, each team took turns flying their respective drones and while they proved difficult to maneuver at first, the students eventually adapted to the controls and took upon flight challenges from Shrikant.
Meanwhile, in ITE227, Ben Bazarsuren and Kalel Kai led the airplane room under the club motto: "if it looks like it will fly, it will fly". This is an adage passed down from generation to generation of AIAA members and it still holds true to this day. This allowed members to exercise creative freedom over their design choices and create a plane unique to their group. Most striking of which were two planes, one whose wing was composed of wooden skewers, feathers, and packing tape, and another whose motor components were stored inside energy drink cans.
After numerous hours of assembling foamboard, connecting electronics, and programming transmitters, the majority of the airplane teams moved to an on-campus flying field to begin their flights. They used a buddy-boxing flight system where the main pilot can grant and revoke controls over the plane as they see fit. This is especially useful when training new pilots, as those with more experience can save the plane from crashing in dire situations.
Ultimately, it is through the support of our members and the curiosity & perseverance of the attendees that allowed nearly every group to have an aircraft in flight by the end of the day. Drone Day was a huge success with an exceptionally high turnout and ended with students interested in aviation along with our organization's activities! And while the event does last a considerable amount of time, we like to believe that everyone in attendance can walk away with not only skills that will last them a lifetime, but a supportive community that welcomes everyone regardless of major or level of experience. We deeply appreciate everyone who took the time to attend our event and we hope to see you again next semester :D