DroneBlocks Simulator Explorations

DroneBlocks Simulator Experience

September 13

    Prior to working in the lab, we were asked to explore drone blocks and take notes. My partner Aleksandra and I were able to contribute all sorts of information to have with us during lab. (check out these notes in my previous blog post)

September 15

    Today in lab, we were able to use the drones now having some sort of background information. I partnered up with Aleksandra and together we were able to program a drone to fly and do tricks. At first, we followed the steps listed below to connect the drone. Due to some confusion concerning which app to use or what each blinking light meant it took a minute to connect our drone. Once our drone flashed a green light it meant that we were now connected. 

    With the help of drone blocks, we started off with a simple code to get things started. There were many ways to program the drone. Before each mission, the code MUST have a takeoff and land effect as the first and last code. The other options include to yaw right or left a certain degree, a flip forward, backward, left or right, the option to repeat the code, fly forward or backward, etc. Once you click launch mission a big red button appears saying "abort mission" in case you needed to land your drone early. Many options as to what you can make the drone do but these were the examples I used. 

Towards the end of class, our drones were heating up, losing battery, and getting too little sunlight, Meaning that they were starting to malfunction. These drones are super delicate and to get the best results possible you must follow the procedures.  According to the drone blocks the drones will not take off in certain conditions including low light, overheated drone, low battery, IMU calibration error, and loose wiring.

It is also useful t know what each light means when using drones, In the normal state, alternating red, white, green, and yellow lights intermittently flashing means that the drone is turning on and performing a self-diagnostic test. Greenlight that blinks twice signifies that the video positioning system is working. Interval. Flashing of yellow light means that the video positioning system is unavailable. The charging state of the Tello mini-drone indicates the following light indicators. Blue color solidly lighting means that the Tello battery is fully charged. If the same blue light blinks slowly, then the battery is charging. Is the blue light blinking quickly? In that case, there is a charging error. The warning state light indicators are as follows. If the yellow light is slowly blinking, it signifies that the signal of the remote control is lost. The red light slowly flashing implies that the battery is running low. A quickly blinking red light suggests that battery power is critically low at almost 0%. A solid red light indicates a critical error, an example of which is the aircraft tilting or a navigation system error.

Overall I say my experience with drones was very informative and exciting. This is the first time I have ever used a drone or programmed it. I am looking forward to future lab days where we get to work the drones again and hopefully synchronize them.

ISTE Standards

1d: Develop resilience and perseverance when approaching CS and CT learning experiences, build comfort with ambiguity and open-ended problems, and see failure as an opportunity to learn and innovate.

5d: Establish criteria for evaluating CT practices and content learning that use a variety of formative and alternative assessments to enable students to demonstrate their understanding of age-appropriate CS and CT vocabulary, practices and concepts.