Making and designing a toy drone through multidisciplinary collaborative work

This project is born from the knowledge and the complementarity of the four vocational schools participating from Spain, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia and a Spanish technological centre expert in toys.The main objective of the project has been to work on the concept of product innovation through the assembly and customisation of drones. We have worked on a project in a collaborative and multidisciplinary way. Improving linguistic competence, knowing related technology and trends about drones, were other objectives that have been addressed. The objective of generating educational materials that allow students to approach the professional world with a level of knowledge of a sector that will have a major impact on the economy in coming years, such as the drone sector. Another secondary objective was to motivate future professionals in STEM careers. To achieve this, a basic model of drone was assembled, on which the students learn the components, and an advanced drone with sensors that give information about the flight and allow the autonomous flight, being a toy drone, but with the same components of drones used by professionals. With this new knowledge, students make changes and customisations in drones using 3D CAD designs and 3D printers.For three years the DroneTeam project has been developed and you can find all the information about its development, as well as access to the results from the official website: www.droneteamproject.euFrom this web page you can access to the DroneTeam eLearning Platform that is available in five languages (English, Spanish, Croatian, Polish and Slovenian) and can access small training courses to learn everything you need about drones.The project has had a great impact on the participating schools, which have integrated the results into their curricula and the new generations of students will take advantage of the developments and knowledge acquired by the teachers in this project. Both in schools and in the cities where they are located, the project has had a high interest in the attractiveness of drones and in knowing how to assemble them and their professional utilities. During three years of project life, the drone sector has evolved enormously and will continue to do so in the coming years. Training future professionals with skills and knowledge in this sector is especially interesting as a possibility close to the market and new professions. However, the results of this project are perfectly scalable and applicable both in the school environment and in the university environment. The results are really broad and applicable, for example, for English classes where you learn about the specific vocabulary of drones, for primary or secondary students where they can learn what physical principles enable the drone to fly, or what it is GPS system and how drone uses it. More advanced, the analysis of materials and yields of the propellers, as well as making advanced product designs creating custom chassis or frames for the drone. Ultimately, the results are licensed under Creative Commons with the possibility of making derivative versions that can be shared without commercial uses, so that all interested stakeholder freely dispose of them and can apply them according to their needs.