The Workshop

Researchers and students from CASA lead technology workshops for young people, as part of the masterclass series programme partnered with UCL Engineering.  The Drones4Good masterclass session, including 3D reconstruction, and VR and spatial visualisation, is delivered with the support of students from CASA's MRes in Spatial Data Science and Visualisation and MSc in Smart Cities and Urban Analytics programmes.

The purpose of the workshop is to demonstrate to students how they can use mainstream tools such as drone technology for “good”, such as capturing and mapping the environment, 3D printing custom drones and using computer graphics to navigate to virtual environments by capturing imagery and turning it to 3D objects. The workshop starts with an introduction on the mechanics of drones and the technology behind the state-of-the-art equipment. This leads to a demonstration by Richard Milton on the custom-made CASA drone, explaining how it can be controlled through a PC. Flora Roumpani follows up with questions about the uses of drones for good and a presentation on the ReMap Lima project, about how drones were used for mapping to generate 3D models. The students are then introduced to the basics of 3D reconstruction through the free Autodesk 123DCatch application. Olly Dawkins set up the VR kit and guided the students through the world of Virtual Reality, which allowed them to fly over the landscapes of 3D Google earth.

Students are teamed up to build their own mini quadcopter, using modified versions of the HubSan X4 H104C -a 95mm quadcopter, and 3D printed frames, printed in CASA with the help of CASA Director, Andy Hudson-Smith. The frames are designed in the shape of a dragonfly, butterflies, ghosts and T-frames, while the flight controllers and motors were attached to the custom 3D printed frames using a combination of foam tape and elastic bands. These can all be downloaded via the download section in this blog. The task enables students to learn through the process of building their own electronics and to think about designs for developing their own flying objects, linking design skills to engineering workflows. Not all drones make it to the end of the workshop, but a lot of fun is in building, flying and smashing them.

In addition to Flora and Richard, the Drones4Good has involved a number of CASA students and researchers, including:

Mateo Neira Alvarez
William Ashford
David Concannon
Oliver Dawkins
Mahendra Jape
Mercedes Landa Quintanilla
Anouchka Lettre
Anna Min Novelli
Jose Baene Pedraza
Nathan Suberi
Tianjiao Wang