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Thank you, Sponsors, we couldn't have gone to the AMA Nationals Competition without you!
- Angela Tseng
- Sep 8, 2019
- 6 min read
Reflection by Ms. Tseng
//nutshell
We, DHS Aviation and Space Club, are #grateful for all of our Sponsors (Duarte Education Foundation, Mrs. Jacqueline Ku, Mrs. Jessie Wang, Mr. Gios Torres, Mr. Wisaka Tony Wu, Mr. Krishna Hoffman, Mrs. Genevive Piatos, Affordable Avionics Inc., Google, Mr. Steven Jenkins, and Duarte Walmart) for making it possible for our students to fly using a much needed and brand new laptop as well as for sending us to the 2019 AMA National Competition. Even though we had Murphy's Law following us on this trip, we learned a lot and grew closer as a result. Here is the video of our team's presentation at the nationals: http://bit.ly/2019DHSASCatNatlCompetition
Immense congratulations to Ms. Lucila Zurita for winning the Dewey O. Bromberg Scholarship of $500 by demonstrating her courage, persistence, team work, and positive spirit throughout the roller-coaster ride of our drone situation on both the practice day and competition day. Here is the video as the award was announced for Lucila: https://youtu.be/RCR9Qrmjdts
Please continue to support our team through Donorschoose as we fix our broken drone and ramp up for another great year flying. Here's the link to DHS ASC Donation Page:
For our latest picture updates, please visit: https://dhsaviationspaceclub.shutterfly.com/
For our latest video updates, please visit: http://bit.ly/SubscribeTsengYouTube
//end nutshell
Day 1: 8/15/2019 Thursday | Getting to Indiana
So the moral of the story here is to have a #checklist, double check the #checklist to make sure all the items that are needed for the competition is packed, and TRIPLE CHECK that Ms. Tseng actually brought the charger for the laptop in order for @DHSaviationAndSpace to fly the drone at the national competition.
We were down at 35% charge on the laptop from our one hour Demonstration Day on Saturday, the weekend before the 2019 AMA UAS4STEM National Competition, to show our parents and sponsors what we will be doing in Muncie, Indiana. Everything went smoothly on Demonstration Day.
I thought I had packed the laptop charger into the suitcase after the Demo Day, but 2,113 miles later, while we were unpacking to get ready for Practice Day, we found out that I, Ms. Tseng, accidentally left the laptop charger in California. 🤨😕😒😓😔😢😭 Mr. Traeger, Mr. Piatos and I were trying to problem solve. We went to Best Buy to purchase an universal charger, but no avail. Our Republic of Gamer laptop requires a 6.0mm charger head, 19.5V and 230W DC converter. Mr. Traeger and Mr. Piatos then went to two other Walmarts to see if they carry other charger that meet that requirement. No go, as no charger has a head that fits into our special gamer's laptop. Mr. Traeger and Mr. Piatos were up until 1:30AM, after they both have woke early to meet, leave Duarte, to take our students to LAX at 4AM, trying to take care of this situation. Thank you both so much for not giving up and for trying to see if we can resolve this issue before Practice Day. #Perseverance #ThankYouChaperones #ThanksForHavingMyBack
Day 2: 8/16/2019 Thursday | Practice Day
After breakfast, as soon as the Best Buy on North Marleon Drive in Muncie, Indiana opened, we went to see the manager, Mr. Adam, explained our situation, what we've already tried and what we're seeking help with. Mr. Adam was kind to let us charge the laptop using the very same laptop charger on display under Geek Squad's care. After a restless morning while waiting for the laptop to charge, we went out in the afternoon to fly before the rain storm comes to see how much charge the laptop will take during our 40-minutes drone challenge practice. Mr. Adam, thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts for also making arrangement for us to come back and charge the laptop before Competition Day with Best Buy's second-shift manager, Mr. Robbie, who knew what we needed when we dropped off our laptop around 6PM. #ThankYou #BestBuy #GeekSquad #ProblemSolve #Perseverance #ThankYouForAnsweringMyPrayers
After reattaching our drop mechanism that fell off from transporting in the luggage, our first flight bounced, crashed, chipped and scrapped the propellers (props). Our second flight took off autonomously, but started having issues--arming and disarming itself mid-flight. We tried to troubleshoot, but couldn't figure out until Mr. Archie found the error in the log and Mr. Joe found the disconnected cold solder that was torn apart from when the drone crash landed. We thought these were a fix, until... the Ardupilot malfunction grew worse. The "compass variance" error keeps on popping up. Students tried switching out the batteries thinking that may solve the issue.
After we crash landed twice during practice and broke several parts on the drone due to Ardupilot malfunctions, we are much in need of supplies to fix our drone. Thank you to Mr. Steven Jenkins, who generously donated emergency fund to fix our drone. We were able to get new propellers, nuts and bolts, metal dowels for landing gear, velcro, gorilla glues, and much more other supplies (I don't want to bore you). Thank you to Mr. Piatos for continuously supporting our students through their problem solving process by with your encouraging words and by getting the necessary materials from our other sponsor, #Walmart.
While we were trying to fix our drone, we heard and saw Mr. Archie's jet fueled RC F16 flew by and thought to seek out the help from expert and got an up close look at the jet fueled planes that he has. Mr. Archie and Mr. Joe kindly helped us troubleshoot and showed us their problem-solving process. They have a mental check list and discussed what might be causing the drone's malfunction-- propellers, GPS, motor, power, landing fail safe, etc. We continued to work with these experts until 9 something PM, 30 minutes after the sunset. Basically until we couldn't legally fly the drone because we couldn't see it in the night. Plus... Mr. Archie and Mr. Joe both have not yet had their dinner or rest. They are also judges for the national competition and they also need to get to bed early so they can start setting up for the national competition at dawn around 5AM.
We also haven't had our dinner yet. Kids were hungry and so we picked among our pre-selected restaurants that was still open for a while as everything in Muncie, Indiana closes by 9PM. We were lucky that Puerto Vallarta, a Mexican restaurant, is opened until 10:30PM. The food was delicious. Kids enjoyed the meal after a long day trying to deal with one emergency after another.
We thought Murphy had finally decided to leave us alone, but noooo! Even while heading back to our hotel, we ran into trouble--a very slow-moving, no scratch that, a stopped train. We thought to go around the train, but it was late, we were tired. We should have gone toward the tail end of the train first, instead of where the train was headed. It took another unnecessary 30 minutes to get back to the hotel to rest and call it a day. #Tired #Exhausted #NeedRest
Day 3: 8/17/2019 Saturday | Competition Day
DHS Aviation and Space Club registered for the competition and was placed to go fifth to present and demonstrate to the judges our capabilities. We tried to see if we can fix the issue with Mr. Joe, one of the judge, when he had a down time. No avail. Our DHS Aviation and Space Club members felt defeated. Students had to make a decision on whether or not to compete or try to figure out how to fix the drone before coming back to California.
After discussion, our students made the decision to try and figure out the issue with the drone. Then the thunder storm rolled in. Rain came down. It is as if the heavens know how we felt and know that everyone needed a break. All teams were advised to packed up and wait out the storm in a shelter. While most teams went back to their hotels to rest, we went to the AMA Museum instead. We were able to get in for free because our drone competition day is also the National #ModelAviationDay. There were activities for kids just right outside the museum for our team to do. Coming to the AMA Museum lifted the kids' spirits. They saw the history behind model aviation, from beginning paper airplane models to modern jet-fueled airplane models. Students were inspired by the museum's rich history and even purchased some aviation shirts and models!
After the thunder storm had passed and our spirit lifted, our students decided that they will take up the offer of using another team's older drone body, attach our water balloon drop mechanism and camera, and try to fly in the national's competition and worry about fixing the drone after we get back to California. Students worked swiftly while I was away getting snacks and dinner. I came back in time to see our DHS Aviation and Space Club become the last team on the field to demonstrate to the judges their abilities. Student members communicate with each other and collaborated without being reminded. They were laser focused on their drone competition.
Needless to say, judges saw all the efforts and determination exhibited by our students. Lucy Zurita was awarded the Dewey O. Bromberg Scholarship for her perseverance, fellowship, and positive attitude throughout the entire competition! Congratulations, Lucy!
THANK YOU all who have been a support for all of us through this journey--helping fund-raised a laptop, sponsored this group of dynamic students on their national competition, and simply stand by them, encourage them, and cheer for them. We couldn't have done it without your help! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU. (Bows) #ThankYou #Grateful #SupportDHSASC
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