UAS4STEM 2024 NATIONALS AND THE 2024-2025 SEASON
By Gwen Mathis | gwenm@modelaircraft.org
ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW interested in drones? Do you like to test the limits and see what kind of challenges you can overcome with aviation? Do you enjoy working in group settings in which teamwork is vital? Do you like to have fun and fly drones with your best buddies? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be interested in the UAS4STEM Drone Engineering Challenge.
UAS4STEM is an educational STEAM competition that pushes youth to design, build, and carry out missions with a UAS. Originally a Naval Air Systems Command program sponsored by AMA in 2012, UAS4STEM was turned over officially to AMA in 2013 and has continued to evolve throughout the years.
Teams composed of four to 10 students, ages 11 to 19, complete an in-depth Online Ground School course, learn how to build a drone, program the drone to complete that year’s challenging missions, present their progress and achievements to industry experts, and compete for the chance to show off their skills at the UAS4STEM National Championships competition that is held at EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Every team must also have at least one adult mentor, although teams are allowed another optional mentor as well. Each competitor and the two mentors per team receive an annual AMA membership upon registering.
Teams can compete in either the Beginner or Advanced division. The Beginner division was created to reduce the barrier of entry. The UAS4STEM staff up the difficulty of the competition yearly to challenge experienced competitors. Because of this, the Beginner division focuses on teaching new drone pilots the fundamentals of drone operation rather than adding in complicated tasks.
For example, in the 2023-2024 UAS4STEM competition, teams that competed in the Advanced division had to engineer pickup mechanisms that could lift and transport various items. The Advanced division transforms the flying and programming competition into an engineering challenge.
Once a team is registered, the first step is to read through the provided rule book. The rule book will provide any competitor with the tools that they need to get started on their drone-building journey. The team will need to read through the specifications to ensure that their drone is competition ready.
Students and mentors will also receive login information for the UAS4STEM Ground School course, which is a required element of the competition. Anyone who participates in the competition must take this course to ensure that they are prepared and knowledgeable about flying UAS. Ground School introduces participants to the fundamentals of flight and sUAS, aviation safety, ethical airmanship, the National Airspace System, radio communication, and many other important things to know while operating drones and UAS.
After assembling a team, completing Ground School, and building and programming a drone, teams can show off all that they’ve accomplished to featured guest judges at the UAS4STEM virtual preliminary competition in April. In the 2023-2024 UAS4STEM preliminaries, there were guest judges from the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, DroneDeploy, Utah State University, and the FAA. Teams are tasked with presenting a Flight Readiness Review (FRR), which includes introducing themselves, establishing their roles within their team, giving a system and safety overview of their drone, explaining their pre-mission briefing, their developmental test results, any evidence of mission accomplishments, and the clarity, depth, and accuracy of their presentation.
Each team must also film a video demonstrating the spirit of the UAS4STEM competition. The specific requirements for the team video depend on whether the team is in the Beginner or Advanced division; the details are available in the rule book. Following the FRR, teams complete a mission using mission-planning software to show off their drone programming knowledge. The top scoring teams are invited to move on to the next stage in the competition.
Up to 12 teams—up to six from each division—are invited to compete at the in-person National Championships at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. EAA puts an immense amount of trust into these young students to operate within a highly saturated
airspace because Wittman Regional Airport, where AirVenture Oshkosh is held, becomes the busiest airport in the world during the weeklong event. Clearance is granted to these students under the expectation that they will abide by parameters such as altitude caps and geofences. It is the highest compliment to AMA and participants that EAA grants this competition such clearance.
Once teams arrive at AirVenture for the competition, they can camp with their fellow competitors, show off their impressive achievements, and compete to win cash prizes, trophies, and Skydio Professional Drones. On top of presenting an updated FRR to new guest judges (from organizations such as Skydio, the FAA Aviation and Space Education Program, NASA, EAA, and more), teams participate in flight operations to complete that year’s challenges.
The challenges vary from year to year, but in the past, competitors have picked up and delivered payloads, programmed their drones to do waypoint navigation using mission-planning software, and located points of interest along with their GPS coordinates. The specific challenges depend on the year’s rule book and whether a team is competing in the Beginner or Advanced division.
The 2024 UAS4STEM National Championships was a sight to see. Ten teams competed in this year’s challenge—
five in Beginner and five in Advanced. The Beginner teams competing at the Nationals were:
- AEROHatchlings–Knoxville, Tennessee
- Corntographers–Yorktown Heights, New York
- Flying Nuggets–Decatur, Georgia
- Redstone Bravo–Huntsville, Alabama
- 5 Knights–Great Falls, Virginia
In the Beginner division, the Corntographers secured a strong first-place finish, which earned them a $1,250 cash prize and a Skydio S2+ Drone Pro-Kit. The 55 Knights team secured second place for a $1,000 cash prize, followed closely by the AeroHatchlings in third place for a $750 cash prize.
The Advanced teams competing at the Nationals were:
- Bumblebees–Hawthorn Woods, Illinois
- Midtown Mavericks–Atlanta, Georgia
- Redstone Alpha–Huntsville, Alabama
- Some Assembly Required–Rockville, Maryland
- St. Mary’s CAP–Hollywood, Maryland
In the Advanced division, Some Assembly Required placed first for a $2,500 cash prize and a Skydio S2+ Drone Pro-Kit, followed by the Bumblebees in second for a $2,000 cash prize and a Skydio S2+ Drone Pro-Kit. The McIntosh Aeronautics came in third for a $1,500 cash prize.
AMA and the UAS4STEM staff would like to both thank and congratulate all of the teams that competed in both the UAS4STEM preliminaries and the National Championships for the 2023-2024 competition year. It takes lots of skill, dedication, time, and hard work to be a part of UAS4STEM, and we are honored that you compete with us.
If you think that you have what it takes (and we’re confident you do!), we encourage you to register for the 2024-2025 season. Registration opened in September, but it’s not too late to get involved now! We do encourage you to join the competition sooner rather than later because you’re allowed to get started as soon as you sign up.
If you have any interest in joining the competition or any questions you would like answered, you can contact the AMA Education team at education@modelaircraft.org. You can also visit the UAS4STEM website, listed in “Sources,” and check out the resources and blogs that are offered there.
SOURCES:
UAS4STEM
www.uas4stem.org
