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Day 4: Drone Navigation Challenge

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Apply Engineering Design Process Phases 4-5 (Test + Iterate); navigate a drone through an obstacle course; track accuracy and time across 3 attempts; connect the experience to real UAS inspection missions
TEKS d(1)(C), d(4)(B)
Deliverable Completed Drone Navigation Course score sheet (3 runs per pilot) showing improvement across attempts
Materials Classroom drones, cones / chairs / tape targets for obstacle course setup, printed Drone Navigation Course score sheet, stopwatches, projector for course diagram

Warm-Up (3 min)

WARM-UP: What was the hardest part about flying the drone yesterday? What will you do differently today?

Take 3-4 quick student responses. Common: "It went up too fast and hit the ceiling," "I confused left and right," "It crashed when I tried to land." Bridge: today we are turning yesterday's basics into a real navigation mission.

Activity 1: Course Setup + Mission Briefing (8 min)

Source: Engineering Design Process applied to drone inspection scenarios

Set up the indoor course before class (or have students help in the first 3 minutes). The course has 5 stations, marked with cones, chairs, or tape:

  • Station 1: Takeoff zone (taped square on the floor)
  • Station 2: Hover checkpoint (a chair the drone must hover above for 5 seconds)
  • Station 3: Gate (two cones the drone must fly between)
  • Station 4: Inspection target (a target on the wall the drone must approach within 2 feet but not touch)
  • Station 5: Landing zone (taped square, different from the takeoff zone)

The mission briefing: "You are a UAS pilot hired to inspect a wind turbine for damage. Take off from the maintenance pad, hover above the turbine inspection point, fly through the safety gates, approach the damaged area for a close inspection (without crashing into it), and land in the inspection report drop zone. You will be scored on accuracy and time."

This is the same scenario real wind farm inspection drone pilots run. Students who are not interested in drones still see why the navigation matters.

Activity 2: Three Runs Per Pilot (35 min)

Distribute the printed Drone Navigation Course score sheet. Each pilot gets 3 attempts. The score sheet captures:

Run # Takeoff Clean? Hover Held 5s? Through Gate? Inspection (no touch)? Landing Clean? Time
1
2
3

How the rotation works:

  • 4 students per team, 1 drone, 3 runs per student = 12 total runs per team
  • Each run takes ~3 minutes (1 min flight + 2 min reset/swap)
  • 12 runs × 3 minutes = 36 minutes of flight time
  • Roles inside the team rotate per run: Pilot → Spotter → Logger → Coach

After each run, the pilot reflects with their team for 30 seconds: "What worked? What will I do differently next time?" This is the iteration step, the heart of the EDP.

Facilitation Tip

The improvement from Run 1 to Run 3 is the entire point. Even pilots who fail all 3 runs usually fail differently each time, that is iteration. Celebrate the difference, not the absolute success.

[VERIFY] If any drone breaks or has battery issues mid-class, swap to a backup drone OR have the affected team move to flight simulator practice (apps like DJI Flight Simulator or Drone Sim Pro). Keep a 4th backup drone within reach.

DOK 4: Based on your performance data across 3 runs, what specific improvements would you recommend for your next attempt? What evidence from your runs supports each recommendation?

Activity 3: Connect to Real UAS Inspection Careers (3 min)

Briefly show 2-3 real-world UAS inspection job titles and what they pay (from BLS or DJI Education): - Drone Inspector. Solar farms ($45-65K) - Drone Inspector. Wind turbines ($55-75K) - Drone Pilot. Construction site survey ($50-70K) - UAS Operator. Pipeline inspection ($60-90K)

The exact same skills students used today (takeoff, hover, navigate, inspect, land) are billable hours in these careers.

Exit Ticket (4 min)

EXIT TICKET (Trade-off / Dilemma Analysis) · Printable PDF:

You are a wind-turbine drone inspector on a real job. You have TWO competing priorities:

  • (A) Fly FAST to finish the inspection in 20 minutes so the turbine can come back online.
  • (B) Fly SLOWLY and CAREFULLY to catch small damage a fast flight might miss.

Pros of picking A: _____________

Pros of picking B: _____________

My choice (A or B): __

Quality list: patience / precision / speed / discipline / focus / reliability.

Which quality matters MOST for THIS choice, and why is it the right one over the others? (d(1)(C), d(4)(B))

My quality: _____

Why: ____________

How does my answer connect to what I improved between my 3 LEGO ATC / drone runs? One sentence:

Differentiation

  • Support: Allow up to 5 attempts instead of 3 for students who need more practice. Reduce the course to 3 stations (takeoff, hover, landing) so the success path is shorter. Pair with a coach who has flown successfully.
  • Extension: Add a time pressure, pilot must complete the course in under 90 seconds. Or add a 6th station (a small target the drone must drop a paper ball onto, simulating a delivery payload).
  • ELL: The course is visually self-explanatory. Provide bilingual station labels: Despegue (Takeoff), Suspender (Hover), Puerta (Gate), Inspección (Inspection), Aterrizaje (Landing). Pair with a bilingual coach.