Safety lesson
Students will study aviation administration regulations in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS), or drones. They will be introduced to non-negotiable rules that are in place to engage in safe and responsible flying, while protecting the privilege of flying UAVS.
Lesson 1 – An overview of DroneBlocks and Tello
Lesson 2 – Hello Tello!
It is tradition when learning a new programming language to guide students through a “hello world!” Tutorial. This generally consists of understanding the language syntax and then experiencing “hello World!” printed to the screen. Since we will not be printing anything to the screen, we will engage in something even more exciting. We Are going to programme a basic mission where Tello takes off, spins 360 degrees, then lands. In addition, this will be a great way to become familiar with a few of the programming blocks in DroneBlocks.
Lesson 3 – Box mission
In this lesson we will cover how to use DroneBlocks and Tello to navigate in a box pattern. In the navigation block, “fly” commands are useful to navigate Tello in three dimensions. We will approach this mission using two different techniques: one mission that keeps the nose of the drone pointed forward and another that uses “yaw” blocks to direct the nose of the drone in the direction of flight. These flight concepts are useful to understand when learning to programme more complex missions.
Lesson 4 – Loop and flip
In programming a very important concept to understand is the loop. Loops allow you to repeat a sequence of instructions until a condition is met. In DroneBlocks the loop command is known as the “repeat” block. We will use this block to repeat a series of flips and will revisit the box mission to simplify the code.
Lesson 5 – Hexagon mission
In this lesson we will extend what we learned in the box mission lesson and program Tello to fly in a hexagon shape. We’ll investigate the geometry of a hexagon, examining interior and supplementary angles. In addition, we will use the loop block from the previous lesson to make our code simple and more manageable.
Lesson 6 – Variables for the win
In this lesson we are going to take a look at variables. Remember, in static code blocks, such as “navigation” blocks, you can input distance and degree values. These values are static and can only be changed when creating your mission. In many cases, while programming you want certain inputs to be dynamic, or “variable”. Variables allow inputs to change while code is executing.
Lesson 7 – Adding logic with if/else statements
Making decisions is an important component of any computer programme. One example is the ability our mobile phones have to make decisions such as determining which Wi-Fi network to join, based on signal strength. This decision-making process is built into the operating system of your phone and the logic is programmed by human beings. In this lesson we will extend our programming knowledge to include logic with DroneBlocks and Tello.
Lesson 8 – Land in your hand
The code from this lesson will be incredibly simple, given you are now a block coding expert! Tello is an intelligent little drone with advanced sensor technology inside. In this lesson we will demonstrate how well the downward-facing sensors work so that you can land Tello in your hand.