Knight HS "Spirit of Niles" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Teams Return Home With Awards

Traveling from Palmdale, CA, 6 students from Knight High School participated in the UAV Challenge in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia from 22-24 September 2014.  The first-ever non- Australian high school to compete in the event, three young women and three young men formed two teams in the Airborne Delivery Challenge.  After presenting their technical report, strategy, and goals on the first day, as well as undergoing static and flying scrutineering by local judges, the "Spirit of Niles II" team (young men flying a DJI Evo 800 hexcopter) was in 9th place, and the "Spirit of Niles I" team (young women flying a Phanton quadcopter) was in 12th place out of 16 teams [the teams are named in memory of Niles Nilo, a Lockheed Martin engineer mentor who originally suggested having an Antelope Valley team participate in the Northrop Grumman sponsored event].  Unfortunately, during its scrutineering flight, the Spirit of Niles II remotely-piloted aircraft suffered a hard landing and flipped, breaking 4 of its propeller blades (this, after its battery charger also burned out the night before).  Students and advisors from other teams immediately jumped in to help, providing a battery charger, and calling around Australia to try and find replacement parts (the closest being a 4-hour drive away back in Brisbane).  When time looked to be an issue, a teacher and a community member brought out their MakerBots, took measurements, and began to fabricate new propeller blades.

Mike Nicholls works on UAV prop blade with MakerBot

Unfortunately, with time being short, insufficient numbers of the blades could be completed in time, so the students converted the hexcopter into a quadcopter and underwent scrutineering again, receiving approval to compete.  Due to an additional issue with the remote, the Spirit of Niles II was unable to deliver the Mars bars to Outback Joe, finishing with a score of 44.7 points, enough for an 11th place finish.

Spirit of Niles II readies for second flight attempt

The Spirit of Niles I had successful runs in the Airborne Delivery Challenge, dropping 3 Mars bars to Outback Joe, one within 0-2 meters (hitting his hat), one within 2-4 meters, and one within 4-6 meters.  They finished in 3rd place, with a score of 87.7 points, behind MUROC (Mueller [College] Radio Operated Craft - with a nod to the Antelope Valley!) Hexfactor, and the winner, MUROC DareDivas - another all-female team.

           

Spirit of Niles I team members have 3 successful drops on the course

Spirit of Niles II decided then to participate in the Search and Rescue event, which requires the UAV team to identify and report 8 symbols in a directional pattern to the judges; results are based on accuracy and speed.  Their performance resulted in a 3rd place finish in that event.

L-R:  Will Curzi, Nathan, Jesus, Ethan, Gabby, Astrid, Natalie, Bridget Howitt

The open/college event took place after the completion of the high school competition.  US team "Robota," with members from Texas and Minnesota, came in 2nd place behind Canberra UAV.  Robota, and Team SFWA from Melbourne were the first two teams in the 7-year history of the event to successfully locate and drop their survival package to Outback Joe in the 2-nm course, then safely return to the Kingaroy Aerodrome.  This accomplishment qualifies them to share a $50,000 first prize.

For more coverage of the event, see Facebook UAV Challenge or UAV Challenge on Twitter .

Knight High School Students to Participate in UAV Outback Challenge

Six students from Palmdale's Knight High School Digital Design & Engineering Academy have been selected to participate in the UAV Outback Challenge in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia in late September of 2014.  The students, 3 male and 3 female, will comprise two teams of students whose unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be required to search a zone of at least 2 nautical miles x 2 nautical miles around an aerodrome without flying outside the area's borders.  Using GPS technology, they are to locate "Outback Joe," a mannequin, and report its location to judges.  If the location is accurate within certain specifications, the UAV is then tasked to drop a "rescue packet" to Joe and recover at the aerodrome.  UAV Outback Challenge - Search and Rescue .

KHS Students with Quadcopter

KHS Student Practices Flying Quadcopter

The students and chaperones are seeking donations to help offset the expenses of their trip to Australia (approximately $2,500 US per person).  If you would like to donate, please contact James Stockdale at Knight High School, jstockdale@avhsd.org .
 

MSET Hosts Tour of Local STEM School Programs for Community

On Wednesday, 30 October 2013, the Antelope Valley Math Science Engineering and Technology (MSET) Consortium, along with the Antelope Valley Board of Trade, Antelope Valley Union High School District, and Antelope Valley College, sponsored a tour of Palmdale STEM school programs for local community partners.  The tour visited Antelope Valley College's Palmdale Center, The Palmdale Aerospace Academy, Palmdale High School's FAST and Health Careers Academies, and Knight High School's Digital Design & Engineering Academy.  Approximately 35 government officials, business and industry, and education community members attended the event, which included presentations and a working lunch. The response from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with a call for future tours to be made available regularly to other local school programs.

California Senator Steve Knight joins community members

 touring The Palmdale Aerospace Academy

Students of the FAST Academy at Palmdale HS work on simple machines in their PLTW lab

Health Careers  Academy students at Palmdale HS learn about measuring injectible medications

Knight HS Digital Design & Engineering Academy Coordinator James Stockdale explains the MakerSpace to tour participants

On-Line Registration for Summer Gateway Academy Now Available

On-line registration is now available for the AVUHSD Summer Gateway Academy sessions.  The first will be held 17-21 June 2013 at Lancaster High School, and the second 29 July through 2 August 2013 at Knight High School in Palmdale.  Please visit http://www.avrop.avhsd.org/Summer to complete the registration forms.  The deadline to submit registration is 23 May 2013 or until each camp is filled (35 slots), first-come, first-served (a waiting list for each site will be held).

Please contact instructor Bob Fenbers for questions regarding the Lancaster session at rfenbers@avhsd.org and instructor Bill Lewis for questions regarding the Knight session at blewis@avhsd.org .

Save the Dates for 2013 Summer Gateway Academy Sessions

The dates have been set for AVUHSD  Summer Gateway Academies.  The first week will be offered at Lancaster High School from 17-21 June 2013, with the second at Knight High School from update: 29 July-2 August (a third week may be held at AV High School).  The deadline for applications to be received will be 23 May 2013.    The camps are designed to spur interest in STEM fields in 6th and 7th grade youngsters, with hands-on activities and guest speakers.  To complete the on-line registration, visit:  http://www.avrop.avhsd.org/Summer.