School of Mines Uses Drones to Find Students

from rapidcityjournal.com

As a menacing black drone hovered inches from his face, Dayton Obago broke out a goofy smile.

The drone was on a mission to find kidnapped hostages, and he was having a good time.

The remote pilots, however, were not the police or Air Force officers. They were Native American high school juniors who are finding themselves on the radar screen for the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

For the 22nd year, the School of Mines is holding its GEARUP program — a six-week scientific summer camp that this year includes interactive projects like flying a drone.

Mines is hoping to give the students, who can enter the program in their freshman year and return each summer through their senior year, the confidence to chart their own course while hoping they land at their school’s Rapid City campus.

Of the 300 students attending this year, a few dozen juniors from across the state and nine reservations were selected for a smaller program that tasks them with creating and flying a different drone mission each week.

Usually within a day, students who know nothing about drones have the flying part down and start having a little fun with the machine, Mines professor Dan Dolan said.

“You can see, they’re taking a drone selfie right now,” he said as Obago and another student hammed it up for the drone’s camera.

The aircraft is small enough for students to easily hold and is controlled with an iPhone application.

Dolan said he purchased the drone for $300 recently at Who’s Hobby in Rapid City.

For this mission, once a kidnapper or kidnapped person was found, they were “caught” or “saved” when the drone snapped their picture.

Dolan proudly watched on as Carlee Condon steadily flew the drone around the King Center’s hallways with his phone.

“She’s awesome. She just learned yesterday,” he said.

As Mines looks long term to diversify its student body, Dolan said programs like this are necessary to encourage women and minority students to think about choosing a STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — field for a career.

The hands-on emphasis is to give students a taste of what it’s like to be an engineer while showing how to use basic concepts to solve problems in the real world.

“They don’t have to build the machines, but they find special ways to use it,” Dolan said.

Part of the experience is to develop good habits for college, including teamwork and time-management skills.

Dolan said this and last week’s mission that sent the drone through the halls to find humans in a town overridden with “zombies” helps give them the confidence to enter college.

“If they haven’t found (a career choice), maybe it will open those eyes,” he said.

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