Day 3: Mission Day

WOVEN
Mission Day
Day 3  ·  Mount, Fly, Deliver
College of the Desert  ·  Future Makers Lab  ·  Today your design flies.

The delivery tool you scanned, designed, and sent to the printer yesterday is back. Today you mount it, prove it fits, and fly the real delivery, then measure it against your cardboard baseline. After that, the lab is open to build further.

1
🔧 Pick Up Your Print + Test Fit

Find your printed delivery tool at the front of the room. Before you fly, you have to prove it fits and it is light enough. Real drone engineers test-fit every part before it goes near a flight.

Step 1: Test the fit

Snap or slide your tool onto the drone where you designed it to go. Does it fit? If it is too tight, a few strokes with a file or sandpaper opens it up. If it is loose, a small piece of tape or foam snugs it. Do not force it, and do not glue anything near the props.

Step 2: Weigh it

Put your tool plus a piece of fun-sized candy on the gram scale. Remember the ceiling: about 20 grams total before the drone struggles. If you are over, you can shave weight now or swap to lighter candy.

Step 3: Mount and balance-check

Mount the tool for real, load the candy, and hold the drone flat in your hand. Does it sit level, or does it tip to one side? Center it over the middle of the drone, and keep it clear of the propellers, the camera, and the sensors underneath.

⚠️ Safety, every flight
  • Hands away from spinning props. Never grab a drone from the air.
  • One drone in the delivery lane at a time. Shout "Drone flying!"
  • "PROPS DOWN" means everyone lands, now.
2
🎯 The Real Delivery Run

Yesterday you delivered with a cup and tape. Today you deliver with a tool you engineered to fit this exact drone. Same target, same rules. The question is simple: did your design beat the cardboard?

🎯 The run

One drone in the lane at a time. Take off, fly to the target, and release your candy in the zone. Three drops. Score your best one, same as yesterday.

Scoring
  • 3 points: candy lands inside the inner circle
  • 2 points: candy lands inside the outer circle
  • 1 point: candy released in the air but landed outside the target
  • 0 points: candy never released, or drone crashed
Baseline vs printed

Write both scores side by side: your cardboard carrier from yesterday, and your printed tool today. In one sentence, say what the printed tool did better, or where it fell short. That comparison is the whole point. A design that loses and tells you why is still a win.

3
🔁 Make It Better

This is the part real engineers love: your tool flew, now you improve it. Pick the one thing that held you back and fix it.

Quick fixes you can do right now
  • Too heavy? Trim or file away material you do not need.
  • Tips to one side? Rebalance where it mounts.
  • Candy falls early or sticks? Adjust the release with a little tape or a bend.
  • Swings in flight? Move the load closer to the drone's body.
💡 Want a version 2?

If you have time, open your design in Tinkercad and make a lighter or smarter version, then post your updated Tinkercad link to the board. If the printers are free, your facilitator may run a quick reprint. Fly it and see if v2 beats v1.

🚀 Afternoon: Open Lab

The morning built your foundation. This afternoon, the lab is yours to push further with your instructor. Depending on the room, you might:

  • Program the drone to fly a delivery on its own with block code at echo.pitsco.com
  • Design and print a bolder version 2 of your tool
  • Run a class delivery tournament for accuracy and speed
  • Scan a new object and design something entirely your own

Your instructor will set the afternoon's direction. Bring the same maker loop: design, test, improve.

Career Connection
You Ran the Whole Loop

Design, scan, print, fly, improve. Put all five together and you are doing what these people do every day:

Mechanical engineer Aerospace engineer Robotics engineer NASA JPL engineer Formula 1 race engineer SpaceX engineer R&D prototyping engineer Product inventor Startup founder Makerspace manager Biomedical engineer Assistive-tech designer Special effects engineer Automotive designer

NASA flew a drone on Mars, named Ingenuity, built by engineers who prototype, print, and test exactly like you did this week. Formula 1 teams design, print, and bolt on new parts between races. And some makers 3D-print prosthetic hands for kids who need them, and give them away for free. Every one of these starts with the loop you just ran three times. College of the Desert is a mile-marker on that road, not the finish line.

📸 Snap + Share

Post your best delivery run and a photo of your printed tool on the drone. Scan the QR with your phone, or use the board below. Put your team name in the subject line.

Scan to open the Future Makers Lab Padlet
Three Days, One Maker

You started with an idea and a blank screen. You leave having designed, scanned, printed, flown, and delivered with your own engineering. That is what makers do, and now you are one. Go build something.

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