G10 Students Join First Online Drone Discovery Camp by: Cate Ong, 10-Solomon

On Saturday, November 7, 2020, twelve Grade 10 students joined the very first Online Drone Discovery Camp hosted and facilitated by the XLipad Team of the De La Salle University (DLSU)  and held via Zoom. This is the second run of an initial physical in-campus drone camp held in March 2020.

The virtual drone camp, which definitely did not disappoint, was led by Dr. Alvin Chua, Mr. Marc Francis Say (a JCA alumnus, go Jubilee!), Ms. Clarisse Crespo, and Mr. Reginald Rivera. The DLSU drone team is granted government subsidy to improve drone technology in the Philippines.

The camp consists of theoretical lecture and mini application workshops. Participants were taught the basics of drones and drone safety rules, to more advanced concepts such as drone terminologies and drone assembly. Moreover, the students got to engage in discussion on the different drone applications, ranging from delivery services (which is already happening!) to disaster-relief operations. There was also a simulation game where students controlled drones and tried to fly them. It was challenging yet fun, nonetheless.

One of the most interesting activities in the camp was using a mission launcher to program the drones. The facilitators taught participants the basics of the program and showed them how to code the drones to go where they wanted at the height they wanted. It would have been even more fun if participants could assemble the drones themselves, or see their programmed drone fly in real life. But if there’s one thing that Cate Ong, one of the particpants, learned during the activity, it is not to take things for granted. She took this chance to learn about drone technology from the very best, albeit not in person, and she appreciated the effort that went into organizing and teaching these things more than ever.

Thanks to JCA-JHS and the enthusiastic XLipad Team of DLSU for showing us the potential of drone technology! The camp was indeed insightful and JHS looks forward to offering another batch of drone training to other students in the future.