Innovative Challenge #6: AgTech x Drone Engineering Design
UN Sustainable Development Goals no.2 Zero Hunger!
From little things 🌱, big things grow 🌳
Congratulations on reaching Challenge #6.
You are at the last challenge. Yee haw!!!
What a fantastic effort!
Our last innovation challenge for you is an engineering design one which is actually connected to helping solve one of the world’s biggest challenges: how to sustainably feed the world 🌏
Wow, that’s important!!!
So, let’s get to it…
Why is innovation important in agriculture?
If you are in year 5 then by the time you finish high school in 2030, the world population will be fast approaching 8.5 billion people. In 2050: 9.7 billion people and in 2100: 10.4 billion people.
All of them need to be fed daily.
That is a staggering number of mouths to feed 🤯
Additionally, how can we do this without over-developing and destroying more land?
How do we keep the current land use sustainable, which means: how do we maintain quality nutrient-rich soil and have enough water to grow crops to feed us all?
Also, how do we harvest what is grown?
The majority of the population lives in large urban centres, so there may be shortages of workers in the country side.
WHO will harvest the crops on the farm to feed us?
Solution…AgTech
Welcome to innovative technology in agriculture! Some innovations are:
Safe Dependable Autonomous Farm Equipment
Autonomous Truck Vineyard
Credits: Advanced Navigation
This is the basic process that engineers go through. These steps help to solve problems for products, devices or even help to develop services that improve systems.
In the real-world engineers also have to balance cost, time and quality.
This can be a difficult balancing act 🤹♀️as quality might cost a lot, but time or money resources are not enough to produce what is needed.
On the other hand, you might have enough money for a quality product or service, but not enough time to meet the required deadline.
Engineering Design Process:
There is a basic design process called an Engineering Design Process: Ask, imagine, plan, create, improve. This process helps to design drones, robotics and improve agriculture products like seeds, fertilizers and even water systems.
Your challenge
Now you too can play a part in this important world problem…and be in the draw to WIN a Drone!!
Our challenge is for you to design an attachment to a drone that can collect soil samples from a farm. Your design must take into consideration:
Step1: Problem
● Removable attachment that is off/on: does it click and/or slide onto the drone?
Step 2: Plan
● What type of drone will you use?
● Where are you going to put the attachment onto the drone?
● How is the drone going to be guided and sees the sample?
● How is the attachment going to pick up samples?
Step 3: Create
● How is the sample going to be stored during flight from the farm to the lab site: will it stay secure and not be lost or dropped?
Like all engineers in the real world, you have to balance:
Time: deadline to submit your design March 12th 5pm AEST
Resources: tight budget [paper and pen]
Quality: best design (In this case, all completed entries will be in the draw to WIN 🏆)
Upload your work
● Send your design with your plan to hello@gdostem.com.au
● Subject line: Challenge#6
● Make sure you have your parent/guardian’s permission to send us your work, see our Terms and Conditions
Prize draw for Challenge #6
🏆WIN your very own Drone Bugs V1, Wow🏆
✔ foldable mode 😲
✔ HD camera 😲
✔ circle fly capability 😲
✔ high speed rotation 😲
Remember: all completed entries that are submitted by the closing of the event (March 12th at 5pm AEST Queensland time) will be in the draw.
Congratulations! You did it…
WELL Done ✅
Wow, you finished all 6 challenges!
Give yourself a big pat on the back!!
Thank you for taking part! We really hope that these challenges have inspired you. More importantly, it was our intention to prove to you that with self-belief, your unique personality and with your friends/classmates or just by yourself, STEM can be for you.
Digital technology is not an exclusive club. It is for all of us and all of us can be a contributor to it!
If you have completed and submitted all 6 challenges, you will now be in the grand draw prize for an iPad from our friends at Telstra!
Please note that the iPad does not come with an included data plan, pre-paid plan or sim card.
