By Tyler Christiansen

STEMIA Junior High has started a drone racing club that meets every Wednesday and Thursday in the Maker Space. We will have a fleet of 6 Cetus FPV (First Person View) drones for students to fly and compete with. In addition to these, the club also will be using our DJI Mavic Mini.

FPV drone racing is like a thrilling video game come to life! Pilots steer small drones through obstacle courses wearing special goggles that show exactly what the drone sees. They race against each other, zooming through hoops and around flags to see who can finish the fastest. Check out the YouTube video at the bottom of this post where a seasoned pilot flies our type of drone around a course.

We have entered a competitive international league where each competing group creates an identical course using common PVC pipes called RaceGOW. A route is set for pilots to navigate through around and through the course and the time is recorded and sent to the league for rankings. We are looking forward to seeing some of our students joining the leader board.

We have connected with several companies and individuals in the area to learn more about how they use drones, and hope to bring them in to speak with the club.

We are grateful to the administration at STEMIA Junior High for the initial investment for the drones. In the future, we hope to raise additional funds for the race course, parts, and tools for the ongoing maintenance and upkeep, and eventually expanding the fleet or exploring creating our own drones that club members can customize and keep.

A link to the FPV drone kits we’ve purchased: https://betafpv.com/products/cetus-fpv-kit

Check out the drone two of our grade 9 students made for science fair: https://youtu.be/rmHxhZfHXSI?si=LxRZiEwlkTaXkgVq

Video of what piloting the Cetus FPV drone is like: