Drones are increasingly becoming an integral part of many sectors of the economy – from logistics, through agriculture and surveying, to defence. Students from our Faculty are working on an educational programme intended to introduce the study of unmanned aerial vehicles into Polish schools. They are developing their project as part of the Odronic startup.

From passion to business

The creators of the startup are students from the Faculties of Information and Communication Technology and Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems, who worked together for several years in the Academic Aviation Club of Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

• Szymon Romanek (management and software) – a graduate of second-cycle Applied Computer Science at our Faculty
• Krzysztof Andrzejewski (embedded systems software) – a second-cycle Systems Engineering student at our Faculty
• Miłosz Rogaliński (responsible for hardware) – Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems

– That was where we gained experience in building advanced constructions, which we later entered in international competitions. We also saw the enormous potential of the unmanned vehicle industry and a gap in the Polish market in the area of education in this field – says Miłosz Rogaliński. – We treat our project not only as a business challenge, but also as a way of passing key competences on to future generations – he adds.

Their idea involves creating an educational drone and preparing a coherent teaching programme combining learning about the construction, programming and piloting of unmanned vehicles. The solution is being designed for primary and secondary schools, as well as private companies providing robotics or programming courses.

Close-up view of a drone held in a hand from above against the blurred background of a bench. The device has a black, 3D-printed wave-shaped protective frame, a black rectangular electronics enclosure in the centre and four motors with light-coloured propellers.

Safety and modularity

The educational drone has been designed with the specific conditions of schools in mind. It will be a device intended for indoor flights, which automatically affects its key technical parameters. The device will measure approximately 15 by 15 cm, and its weight will not exceed 100 grams.

– Safety is also of key importance. Because the drone will be used with children, it will be equipped with propeller guards, and its flight speed will be limited by software so that any collision with lesson participants poses no risk – announces Szymon Romanek. – In our project, we also place great emphasis on flight stability. The drone will use an optical flow sensor, operating similarly to a computer mouse sensor, which analyses its movement relative to the ground – he adds.

One of the foundations of the project is its modular construction. In the future, the basic version of the drone will be expandable with additional elements, such as a camera, speaker, additional sensors, LEDs and grippers. All this is intended to make it possible to carry out various scenarios of its use during lessons.

Interestingly, children themselves will be able to programme the drone using a block-based language analogous to Scratch. In the future, when the drone reaches secondary schools and technical schools, an advanced programming module in Python will be prepared for older students.

Screenshot of a block-based programming application. On the left-hand side, there is a menu with colourful command blocks, such as “Fly forward 1 m”.

Educational model

The Odronic project is not only about the equipment itself, but above all about a coherent teaching system. As part of the project, the students want not only to create a drone, but also to prepare a complete package of educational materials and lesson scenarios for teachers.

– We plan to provide ready-made instructions for conducting classes and instructional video materials. The aim is to relieve teachers, because independently developing programmes for new technologies is really time-consuming. The programme includes not only learning the basics of programming, but also learning about drone construction, the principles of flight physics, as well as dexterity and hand-eye coordination training during piloting – explains Krzysztof Andrzejewski.

A group of ten smartly dressed people poses for a photo on a viewing terrace. The man in the centre is holding a commemorative “Voucher for services” worth PLN 5,000, while the colleague standing behind him is raising a small black drone.

Cooperation with teachers and local government

The students want to develop their startup as part of the Academic Business Incubator of Wrocław University of Science and Technology (AIP PWr). The team already has an advanced prototype on which the software is being tested.

The final version of the device, together with the educational package, is expected to be ready for the first tests in schools as early as September. The cost of the drone, together with the documentation and teaching programme, is estimated at approximately PLN 1.5 to 2 thousand, and the students want to cooperate with local government authorities in putting their ideas into practice.

The young engineers can already boast their first success. Their project won the Grow Up Tech pre-incubation programme organised by AIP PWr. The jury of the competition included experienced investors, business advisors and market experts.

More information on the startup's website.