News

"On Friday 12th July, 33 Year 10 Computer Science students participated in U Can Too’s Drone Assault Course Workshop. The day consisted of many activities. We began by familiarising ourselves with programming the Version 2 BBC MicroBits and its variety of external devices and sensors, such as servos and LEDs. We also participated in Drone Flight School to learn how to fly drones, which was a very enjoyable experience, especially when trying not to crash the drones into the sports hall's lights, walls, or anyone in the hall!

 

The aim of the day was to gain more of an understanding of physical computing. In three teams, we had to build and program an assault course for a drone and then compete against the other teams. Team 1 built an assault course with the theme of ‘Space’, which was very impressive with its vibrant solar system obstacle. Team 2 had a theme of ‘Jurassic Park’ (with accompanying theme music playing throughout). Team 3 (my team) had a theme of ‘Underwater’, which was particularly eye-catching with a shark’s mouth obstacle. The assault course consisted of 5 parts for the drone to go through: a swinging blade, a guillotine, a tip switch, the stop-and-start landing pad and a circular rotating obstacle.

 

The whole day was full of creativity, merging together computing and engineering. For the competition, we were given one minute to fly the drones through one part of our assault course to try and earn our team the most points. Additional points were given for clearing the more challenging obstacles - seeing some drones fly past a rotating Pterodactyl was truly impressive! Team 1 took the win at the end of the day with a whopping 38 points, with Team 2 close behind at 37 points, but Team 3 lacked a little further behind at 17. Overall, it’s safe to say that all 33 students found the day entertaining and enthralling, flying the drones through obstacles we programmed ourselves. Before the workshop, many of us hadn’t thought about Computer Science having such a creative side to it. Many thanks to Su, Hugh and Nicki from #UCanToo for showing us otherwise, and special thanks to Mr Chambers for organising such a unique and exciting day for us."

 

Charlene Ambida 10T