Game of drones: UH student engineers in international competition
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Link to video and sound (details below): https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/xgIC7SIv8t
*Suggested VOSOT script below*
Seven students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Engineering are headed to the U.S. continent to participate in an international drone competition.
The 22nd annual Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) Competition will be held at St. Mary's County Regional Airport in Maryland from June 25 to 27. The competition has two elements: the design and flight readiness presentation, and the mission demonstration. The presentation portion assesses a team’s UAS design and the team’s testing and preparedness, and the demonstration portion simulates a mission (consisting of autonomous flight, obstacle avoidance, object detection and airdrop).
More than 50 teams entered, and 36 qualified for the competition, including teams from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, India, Czech Republic, Norway, Italy, Canada and the U.S.
This is the fifth year the UH Drone Technologies team is participating. Its best finish was 6th in 2017 (3rd among U.S. teams), and the team aims to place higher this year.
Leiolani Malagon Bracamontes Rodriguez, a senior mechanical engineering major, is the program manager for the 36-student team and is one of the seven students traveling to the competition.
“Just because we’re not from the mainland or we’re not from a bigger state, doesn’t mean that we don't have brilliant minds here at UH,” Bracamontes Rodriguez said. “Being able to go and represent UH Mānoa and Hawaiʻi in general—because we’re the only one from Hawaiʻi going—it's a great opportunity and we're very fortunate.”
Carl Domingo, a spring 2024 computer engineering graduate who is also on the traveling team, will begin working as a nuclear engineer at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard following the competition.
“A lot of people should be proud of what we do,” Domingo said. “We don't just build drones just for fun. There are some real-world applications of what we do.”
Importance of drones
UAS, commonly known as drones, contribute to efficiency, safety and innovation across various sectors, including agriculture, construction, infrastructure inspection, emergency response, environmental monitoring, delivery services and more, Shiroma said.
“Unmanned aerial systems have been increasingly important,” said Wayne Shiroma, the team’s advisor and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering chair and professor. “Amazon has used them for package delivery. NASA is currently using UAS’s for wildfire detection. Essentially any time where it would be cheaper or safer to send an unmanned aerial system instead of a human, that's where these UAS’s could come into play.”
Preparing students for careers
Shiroma said that participating in the competition will help students gain practical experience, problem-solving skills, and exposure to cutting-edge technology, preparing them for future careers in the rapidly evolving field of drone technology.
“It’s more than just the engineering, which itself is very complicated, because of the interdisciplinary nature of the project,” Shiroma said. “The students also have to raise their own finances, they have design review meetings, they interact with the sponsors of the project, so, all in all, it’s a fantastic opportunity for them to get a foothold to what they’re going to be experiencing out in the industry.”
Link to video and sound (details below): https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/xgIC7SIv8t
VIDEO:
BROLL: (1:32)
0:00-1:32 - Shots of the UH unmanned aerial system
SOUNDBITES:
Leiolani Malagon Bracamontes Rodriguez, UH Drone Technologies team project manager
(0:13)
“We would spend late nights working on it so just being able to go and represent once again UH Mānoa and Hawaiʻi in general because we’re the only one from Hawaiʻi going—it's a great opportunity and we're very fortunate.”
Carl Domingo, UH Drone Technologies team member
(0:10)
“A lot of people should be proud of what we do. We have a lot of real world applications on the missions that we do—one being payload delivery and package delivery.”
Wayne Shiroma, team advisor and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering chair and professor
(0:20)
“The students also have to raise their own finances, they have to have design review meetings, they have to interact with the sponsors of the project, so all in all I think it’s a really good real world experience.”
(0:17)
“The competition mission is not a simple one. It involves the drone autonomously flying around a controlled airspace trying to locate targets and then dropping payloads onto those targets.”
VOSOT Script
INTRO:
It’s a Game of Drones!
Seven students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Engineering are taking flight to the East Coast to compete in an international drone competition from June 25 through 27.
VO:
The team called UH Drone Technologies comprises more than 35 students.
They’ve been working some long hours to prepare their drone to be competition ready.
Some of the tasks they’ll need to complete: flying the drone autonomously, avoiding obstacles, detecting specific locations and releasing payloads.
SOT:
Leiolani Malagon Bracamontes Rodriguez, UH Drone Technologies team project manager
“We would spend late nights working on it so just being able to go and represent once again UH Mānoa and Hawaiʻi in general because we’re the only one from Hawaiʻi going—it's a great opportunity and we're very fortunate.”
Carl Domingo, UH Drone Technologies team member
“A lot of people should be proud of what we do. We don't just build drones just for fun. There are some real world applications of what we do—one being like rescue missions and package delivery.”
Wayne Shiroma, team advisor and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering chair and professor
“The students also have to raise their own finances, they have to have design review meetings, they have to interact with the sponsors of the project, so all in all I think it’s a really good real world experience.”
VO:
More than 50 teams entered from about a dozen countries, and 36 qualified for the final phase of the competition held in Maryland.
This will be the fifth year UH Mānoa has participated.
Its best finish was 6th in 2017.