5: Drone Delivery Races

🛠️ Materials Needed

• The Tech: Mini Drones (fully charged).

• The Cargo: “Fun Size” candy bars.

• Engineering Supplies: Small paper cups, paper clips, pipe cleaners, masking tape, scissors.

• The Course: Blue painter’s tape (to mark Start and Drop Zones).

🧠 Phase 1: Design & Build (Inquiry Mode)

Your Challenge: The drone needs to carry a piece of candy, but it doesn’t have a cargo hold. You must build one.

Questions to explore while building:

• Balance: If you tape a cup to the top, does it throw off the center of gravity?

• Aerodynamics: If you hang the cargo below with string, how much does it swing when you turn?

• Weight: How much tape is too much tape before the drone can’t lift off?

Instructions:

1. Select your materials and design a carrier. It can sit on top or hang below.

2. Secure the carrier to the drone (do not cover the propellers or sensors!).

3. Load the candy and test the fit.

Pro Tip: A “Low Floor” design is a cup taped to the top. A “High Ceiling” design creates a mechanism that uses the drone’s momentum to swing and release the candy without landing!

🧪 Phase 2: Test & Iterate

Don’t race yet! Go to the test flight area.

1. Hover Test: Can your drone lift off and hold a steady hover with the candy?

2. Movement Test: Fly forward. Does the extra weight make the drone drift?

3. Modify: If it crashes or drifts heavily, trim the weight or move the attachment point.

🏁 Phase 3: The Supply Run (The Race)

Format: Relay Race or Time Trial.

The Rules:

1. Launch: Pilot and Loader stand at the Start Line. Load the candy.

2. Fly: Pilot flies the drone to the Drop Zone (Blue Tape Line) across the room.

3. Deliver: Land firmly in the zone (or hover-drop) to offload the candy.

4. Return: Fly back to the start to reload.

5. Win: The team to deliver 3 pieces of candy first wins!

Constraint: If the candy falls out mid-flight, you must land, retrieve it, and re-launch from the start line.