DRONE WARS Episode II: 'A Good Hope'

Patrick Camp, The Cullman Times, Ala.
·4 min read

May 6—HANCEVILLE — On Friday, May 5, seventh graders from the Cullman County School district returned to Wallace State Community College to compete in the second annual Drone Wars competition.

The competition is the culmination of a program, introduced last year, which incorporates an introductory lesson in drone operation into the seventh grade computer science programs. Superintendent Shane Barnette said the inspiration for the program was a response to the increased demand for certified drone operators in nearly every industry sector.

"This is way to introduce them [students] to this kind of thing early, and if they find they have a real interest in it, they can continue on to our more advanced program at the [Cullman Area Technology Academy]," Barnette said.

While the seventh grade curriculum focuses primarily on maneuvering smaller drones, Barnette said students enrolling in the engineering program offered at CATA will have the opportunity to get a more advanced education on drone operation and programming. Students completing the program have the opportunity to obtain a certification for drone operations.

"I told those industry leaders that I want them coming back here to fight over our students at Cullman County Schools because they have those skills right out of high school," Barnette said.

Much like last year's competition, students were faced with a series of obstacles of varying heights and sizes they were required to maneuver a drone through. The biggest surprise of the day though was a roughly five foot tall wall, with only a 12 inch wide tunnel, blocking the pilot's view of the back section of the course. Because of this, the "navigator" of each two-man team was required to give verbal and hand directions to the operator in order to complete the course.

Secondary Curriculum Coordinator Kim Lindsey said this challenge, recommended by instructors with the WSCC Computer Science program, not only gave the students an introduction to many real-world challenges drone-operators face, but also forced the students to work as a team and develop strategies for communication.

"They really have to work as a team and communicate with each other to get through the blind area. Last year each team would just take turns at flying the drones, but this year we really wanted them to have to work together," Lindsey said.

Eli Drake said this was the biggest challenge for he and teammate Roger Miller, from Good Hope.

"That was our biggest problem at first. We weren't that well as team," Drake said. Miller added "The way I was trying to tell him what he needed to do wasn't really the best, and the way he was trying to tell me wasn't the best. We had to figure out a different way to communicate."

For the majority of the competition's earlier rounds, teams from Vinemont handled the course with ease, setting a new fastest-time nearly each time they attempted the course. But the two-man squadron from the Raider alliance, made up by Drake and Miller, were able to adjust their communication strategy to strike back against the Eagles and deliver the day's fastest time of one minute and 15 seconds — less than one second quicker than the time of 1:15.6 from Harmony.

Miller, who hopes to one day become a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, said he felt the competition "definitely" gave him a crash course in several of the skills he feels will be beneficial to his prospective future career.

"It definitely helps teach you about situational awareness and to stay calm under pressure," Miller said.

Lindsey said she has witnessed a noticeable increase in the level of interest and enthusiasm, from students and instructors alike, in the program after the inaugural competition last year.

"This year I took a teacher survey to find out if they were happy with the program and if they wanted to keep doing it, and 100% of them responded that it was definitely something they wanted to continue," Lindsey said.

Barnette said he believes at least one contributing factor to the level of student enthusiasm is that programs and events such as this give students, who may not have any interest in organized sports, an event to be excited about and have a chance to compete against their peers.

"I had a parent come up to me just a couple of weeks ago to thank us for doing this. She said 'You know my son isn't really into sports or anything like that, but he has not stopped talking about this competition for the past two weeks,' and that's really what this about, giving every student the opportunity to find what they are interested in and giving them the chance to be the best they can be at that," Barnette said.