By Jett Goldsmith –
The View –
Castle View High School’s Technology Student Association, which is dedicated to helping students embrace science, technology, engineering and math through competitions like rocketry and robot-building, is home to 68 students of all grades.
In August, these students chose, nearly unanimously, to participate in a competition to build quadcopters and eventually race them through an obstacle course.
Quadcopters are remote-controlled helicopters with four rotors, usually flown as part of a drone hobby, which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the United States. According to Castle View TSA president Alan Kopp, a senior, when students heard that building quadcopters was an option for their next competition, they couldn’t pass it up.
“I like the connection to the real world that building quadcopters provides,” said senior Tyler Faragallah. “The stuff we use in here is everything someone working professionally on engineering would use, so it prepares us for doing this sort of stuff outside of school.”
Students were divided into three teams by event organizer Braedon Bellamy, a sophomore, to build three separate helicopters and compete against each other. Already heading into their fourth meeting for the competition, the students have gathered all of the materials and begun building the frames of their quadcopters, as well as attaching electronics and rotors. One team even got their quadcopter up and running momentarily, before disaster struck — a rotor spun out of control and flew across the room, leaving a huge gash in the ceiling tile.
“My favorite part of building these quadcopters is working with my hands and creating things from scratch,” said sophomore Sam Warfield. “It’s a really interesting way to learn, and I’m very excited for the competition at the end.”
Most of the non-electronic pieces for the quadcopters are made using the engineering department’s many tools, including a 40-watt laser cutter, a specialized 3D printer and a self-contained milling machine.
Quadcopter meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month in room 2100, while general TSA meetings are held every Thursday in the same room.
