UAS4STEM: Unmanned Aerial Systems for STEM education

UAS4STEM: Unmanned Aerial Systems for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Education @ UC Merced

We have been building multi-tiered UAS4STEM ecosystem at UC Merced. [Slides (PDF 6.4Mb) (PPT 21Mb) for more information]

• Tier-0: (K-12 outreach) Sample effort: ​TEAM-E Summer Institute (2015) [key idea: drone as the tool, resources]
• Tier-1: (student clubs) UAS related Student Clubs (AIAA UCM DBF, Drone Racing Club)
• Tier-2: (service learning)  Engineering Service Learning UAV Team (since Spring 2014)
• Tier-3: (extension)  CITRIS Aviation / UCM Extension UAS training courses
• Tier-4: (for credit courses)
  • Undergraduate Technical Elective course:  ME190 "Unmanned Aerial Systems" (4 credit, lab intensive) (Summer17) (also Fall 2017 offering to be taught by Dr. Brandon Stark)
  • Undergraduate Independent Research courses related to drones (ENGR195, ME195, CSE195) (1-4 credits)
  • Capstone projects for seniors related to beneficial use of drones (sample project: 2013 Team GLASS)
• Tier-5: (graduate research) Graduate education: UAS Research; our UAS papers.

ME-190 "Unmanned Aerial Systems" Course [Fall 2016 offering; Summer 2017 offering]

• Catalog course description: “Unmanned Aerial Systems” (UAS) prepares students with essential foundational, design, integration and operational knowledge to meet emerging UAS workforce demands. Topics: UAS history, classification, applications, safety compliance; UAS components, basic aerodynamics, flight dynamics, navigation and control, payload integration, mission planning, sense-n-avoid; UAS use cases and other selected emerging topics.   (4 credits with labs.) [Summer 2017 Course Flyer]

ME-190 "Unmanned Aerial Systems" Labs

• Drones for learning
  • Intel Aero2  (intel.com/aero) (donated)
  • 3DR Solo (5 sets with cameras)
  • AR.Drone 2.0 (12 sets)
  • ...

News links:

• http://extension.ucmerced.edu/personal-enrichment
• AgTech.ucmerced.edu (USDA internship program, news release) also http://mechatronics.ucmerced.edu/REU-usda
• UC UAS Safety Center [UCOP, EHS, COE, UAS]
• TEAM-E Summer Institute (2015) [key idea: drone as the tool, resources]
• USDA AFRI ELI
• NSF REU (e.g. MAS-net 2010)
• ED HSI STEM
• STEM-TRACKS and TEAM-E
• UAS4STEM @ UC MERCED (#UAS4STEM)
• http://mechatronics.ucmerced.edu/DroneDMV
• CITRIS Aviation

Last updated: 2/27/17 by YangQuan Chen