It's a bird! It's a plane! What is that thing? (w/ Video)

When they hear the whirring, they might want to duck. Faculty in UC’s FUSION Center (University of Cincinnati) are launching test flights of their newest addition to the center's digital backpack concept.

The FUSION Center, housed in the UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH), strives to build student strength and interest in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields by exploring innovative teaching and by building educational partnerships from pre-kindergarten through college. The center’s digital backpack concept explores portable, high-tech items that teachers can use to enhance student learning in STEM and also build their strengths in today’s fast-moving technology environment.

As a result, the FUSION Center recently purchased two Parrot AR.Drone quadracopters that fly by using devices such as the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Jamie Basham, UC assistant professor of teacher education, says the drones can be used to show young students that they’re exposed to science and math every day, and that they may not even be aware of it.

It can be used to fly over a football field and show students different perspectives of height and distance. It can be used as a demonstration in the dynamics of flight.

The device has a frontal camera and a camera underneath it. It can send back a live feed of what it is “seeing” to the operator’s iPhone as well as capture still photos. The drone can be controlled from up to a 50-meter distance.

The quadracopter drones were purchased with funding from a $978,468 grant awarded by the Ohio Board of Regents last spring - one of six proposals awarded across the state - to expand the Southwest Ohio STEM Education Hub, a regional partnership to build student and teacher talent in the STEM disciplines.

As a result of that funding, the FUSION Center has received 65 proposals from the regional partners to fund different initiatives for teachers and schools to develop STEM activities, says center director Helen Meyer, associate professor of teacher education.

Provided by University of Cincinnati