Ardoch and Cummins Take to the Skies with New Drone Program

Thanks to funding from our partners at Cummins South Pacific, Ardoch has expanded our robotics offering to schools in a pilot program that introduced the grade six students at Inala Primary School to the exciting world of drone technology.

This exciting new initiative took place at the Brisbane based school on October 20 and 21. It was facilitated by an instructor from She Maps, a company who specialise in offering drone experiences to school groups. The program is designed to support the curriculum by teaching the students skills in STEM, including how to fly and code drones, understand remote pilot regulations and safety considerations and understand how drones are used in the workplace.

Through a series of guided activities, students involved gained confidence and competence in the manual flight of drones, and used coding for autonomous flight to solve a real-world challenge. It’s a fun and engaging activity where students are encouraged to think creatively to solve problems and overcome challenges in a way that might normally be beyond their reach.

Included were three individual 2.5 hour drone flying sessions involving a total of up to 90 students, plus teacher information, resources and instruction, and five drones. The school gets to keep the drones and associated resources, and the professional development offered for teachers takes them through practical information such as how to use the resources and set up the drones for use. This crucial component will give teachers the skills and confidence to bring the technology back into the classroom, thus expanding the scope of the drones for future activities.
Ardoch is excited to be able to pilot this program, and in doing so develop the potential to support many other school partners in the future through this new community partnership with She Maps.