Vermont team heads to the National Aerial Drone Championships

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Drones are darting around one Vermont high school as they head to West Virginia to compete in a national drone championship. Back in January, the River Valley Tech Club hosted Vermont’s first aerial drone tournament. Now, the club will showcase its skills on a national scale as the only Vermont team registered to compete in the event.

Coltrane Tallman and Emma Moye are two sharp 8th-graders on the team. “It’s nice to have a bigger community,” Coltrane said.

“Just try and have fun. Trial and error is the best thing that can happen,” said Emma.

It’s a multi-skilled competition. One task is called autonomous flying, where you code a drone flight without the need for a pilot. There’s also a team flight competition where students test their pilot skills to move obstacles and land the drone perfectly.

“I’ve learned a lot of different programming strategies like adding comments, using measurements or seconds, and estimating trial and error,” Coltrane said.

Instructor Christopher Gray says the club began almost a decade ago and was more robotics-focused. Now, it’s all about dazzling the crowd with drones. “The idea is that with drones, we’re teaching the students piloting skills, communication skills, which is really important. This is a team sport,” he said. The goal is to give the students something to work towards, team experience, and some career skills. “These are the kinds of skills that are in high demand now, and the jobs of the next 10 years haven’t even been invented yet. And that’s what these students are gonna be walking into.”

Last year the club only had 10 members who also went to West Virginia’s national competition. Now, they’re going to compete -- and hopefully win -- with a total team of 34.

“I think I’ll keep coming here next year,” said Emma.

The National Aerial Drone Championships in Fairmont, West Virginia kicks off at 9 a.m. on Friday.

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