In Class or on the Field, Drones Help Nebraska’s Curious Minds Soar

(Source: omaha.com)  

More than footballs were flying at a recent Westside Warriors practice.

Jeff Ingraham pushed a lever on a radio controller, and a white DJI Phantom drone whined and lifted off the running track.

A few more pushes and pulls, and the drone sailed to a spot high above the turf, hovering still as a rock, its high-definition camera recording the action below.

One day soon, drones like this will probably swoop into your kids’ school. If they aren’t there already.
The compact, remote-controlled aircraft are providing marching band directors and football coaches with a bird’s-eye view of formations.

In science class, students write programs to steer miniature drones through obstacle courses.

School officials capture dramatic, Hollywood-style videos to show off their facilities and promote their districts.
Ingraham is a technology specialist with Educational Service Unit 3, a political subdivision that provides technology support to 18 eastern Nebraska school districts.

The organization bought 25 drones, including the Phantom, as part of its mission to seek out emerging technologies that might be important to schools in the future, he said.

“It just seemed to be an incredibly compelling way of engaging students, specifically in STEM concepts — science, technology, engineering, math — that is so important for the future of our nation,” Ingraham said.
The drones cost about $3,500 in all. They vary in size and capabilities. But they all reflect the convergence of whiz-bang technologies: powerful, miniature motors; long-lasting, lightweight batteries; global positioning and infrared guidance systems; digital cameras; and easy programming.

Ingraham takes them, upon request, to schools in the member districts, including Bellevue, Elkhorn, Douglas County West, Millard, Gretna, Papillion-La Vista, Ralston, Springfield Platteview and Westside.

The ESU serves 77,000 students, making it the largest in Nebraska.

The DJI Phantom, costing about $1,000, is the biggest and most expensive aircraft in Ingraham’s squadron. It’s 14 inches across, weighs over 2 pounds and carries on its belly a GoPro camera. Its four blades emit a loud whine and look like they could chop a salad, or a finger, in nothing flat.

With global positioning capability, the drone can sit magically in the air like it’s on a string. When the battery runs low, it automatically returns to the spot where it took off. Its videos, shot in high definition, are clear and smooth.
Ingraham can aim the camera remotely, but he can’t see what the camera sees. With this model, there’s no screen on the controller to view through the drone’s lens. So it’s a guess as to what is captured on video. But he and Robbie Jensen, another ESU technology specialist, have gotten pretty good at aiming it. The camera is mounted on a gimbal, a pivoting support that keeps it horizontal.

At the Westside football practice, Ingraham made several flights with the Phantom. Players craned their necks to watch it. At one point, a hawk floated over the field, and Ingraham gave it a wide berth. Birds sometimes attack the drones and send them crashing, he said.

Ingraham later provided the videos to the coach. The videos resemble those overhead Xs and Os shots that NFL quarterbacks are always examining on the sideline.

Ingraham said the Westside coach was impressed.

“He said it was very helpful,” he said. “They’re planning to purchase one now. … From the press box, you don’t get that same perspective of who did what when.”

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