I can't even tell you how sick I'm getting of talking about drones, studying drones, reading about drones. Everyone around me is fairly over it too, I think. Currently I'm trying to figure out the justification behind the drone Makerspace, but I'm struggling to find authoritative pieces. Everyone says that they're good for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) learning, but where's the evidence? It's annoying. I think it's because Makerspaces are a fairly new concept, and personal drones are a new technology, that there hasn't been any definite research on the project.
After I've finished that section, I then have to develop the stakeholder matrix, which is basically describing the users and businesses and community groups and government organisations that have an interest in the project, and then deciding how often they'll be updated on the progress of the Makerspace. That part of it isn't very difficult, it's really just forcing myself to do it. However, I have decided that I really, really don't want to be a Project Manager after the work we've done this semester.
Anyway, here's another drone video, this time an eagle vs. a drone:
The name of the project that we're working on in class is never going to be Drone Attack! unfortunately, even though that was one of the first names that I came up with and can now not get it out of my head. We're going to call it something much more dull, like DroneSpace or Drone 101. There was a suggestion of Drone for Drones, owing to the target audience who are early school leavers and unemployed youths.
The project is coming along fairly well, we've been defining the project a bit more in depth now, and have a fairly clear idea of what we would like the project to be. It will be twice a week, for two hours per session, a drop in area where people can come in and learn how to build drones. It will be a three-week cycle, meaning that it will probably take about three weeks to build the drone, learn all of the safety and privacy information, do the programming, and then flying. However, due to the target audience of the project, we aren't having specific sessions and classes, and an attitude that attendance is mandatory. Early school leavers will not be interested in going to a library and be lectured at, and they probably won't turn up all the time either. There will be an instructor in the room at all times, but users will be able to work at their own pace. The idea of a MakerSpace is to encourage people to work creatively and imaginatively with technology that they may not have used before, and so we have decided that it isn't necessary to have too much structure in the sessions.
After we have finalised the project itself, we then have to work out the budget. I have volunteered to do this (with someone else, of course, because I'm not great at maths and I need a supervisor), really as a way to get out of having to do the class presentation. It was that or the marketing side of things, which I have no idea about at all. So I'm going to have to start pricing things, beginning with drones and staffing costs, because they're going to be the major expenditures.
Anyway, here's a real drone attack:
Hilarious! I think that we should put that in our marketing campaign.
