Frequently Asked Questions
Check the categories below for answers to some of the most common questions about our Droneworks competitions.
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2024 Event
No. The 2024 competition is ALL MANUAL flight, no coding necessary.
Yes. The 2024 competition is ALL MANUAL flight, no coding necessary.
Drones & Disasters
“Identify up to three (1-3) ways a drone may be used after a natural disaster.”
- Research about how drones may be used after natural disasters
- Choose up to three (1-3) ways they can be used
- Create a digital research poster (MS) or digital research portfolio (HS)
- Pre-submit it prior to the conference using JudgePro (Due March 27)
- Fly the Manual Flight Missions up to three (3) times
- 12 Semifinalists participate in an interview about their drone research
Teams manually pilot their drone through various theme-based missions. Teams attempt to complete missions and score the most points within one (1) minute.
 | At the Hot Table, participants power up their drone and connect it to their Drone Control System. |
 | Only one (1) team at a time competes within the Airspace. |
 | The spotter places the drone on the Landing Pad. |
 | The pilot stays outside the airspace and controls the drone from within the Pilot Area. |
 | An attempt begins with a countdown. At that time, the drone may takeoff. |
 | Pilots attempt to complete Missions and score the most points. Missions do not need to be navigated in any specific order. |
 1-min Attempt | Participants will have a one (1:00) minute attempt to complete missions. The timer never pauses. |
 | The spotter remains outside the airspace unless the drone stops, but may retrieve it and return it to the landing pad to keep flying and attempt to score more points. |
 | After an Attempt, a judge discusses what happened, mission by mission. If the team agrees with everything, they sign the Score Sheet. |
 | Participants will be given up to three (3) attempts to achieve their best score by completing the flight missions. |
 | The lowest scoring attempt will be dropped. The highest two (2) manual flight attempts will be added together to determine the total flight score. |
 | The preliminary round score from the digital research poster/portfolio and highest two (2) flight attempts will determine the twelve (12) semifinalists. |
Participants will have a one (1:00) minute attempt to complete flight missions manually.
The timer never pauses.
Participants will be given up to three (3) attempts to achieve their best score by completing the flight missions.
Practicing basic manual flight skills is more important than building the missions. Practice precision landing, flying under and around obstacles.
Practice doing multiple tasks in under a minute. Be able to fly quickly and efficiently.
Good communication between the pilot and spotter is vital for the 2024 competition. There will be areas of the airspace that the pilot cannot see, so they will have to rely on the spotter’s verbal commands.
Practice being able to successfully navigate the drone using only commands from the spotter.
Yes. Twelve (12) Semifinalist Teams participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster or digital research portfolio.
The top ten (10) finalists will be announced at the conference awards ceremony.
Yes. Twelve (12) Semifinalist Teams participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster or digital research portfolio.
Start with getting comfortable flying the drone and how it moves. Once both team members are comfortable with flying, work on communicating as a pilot and spotter.
Practice navigating to a specific spot to land using only voice commands. Can the pilot fly the drone without watching it?
2024 Theme & Missions
Drones & Disasters
“Identify up to three (1-3) ways a drone may be used after a natural disaster.”
Details of the 2024 missions are found in the Theme & Missions documents.
No. All you really need is creativity. Use the space and materials you have available. If you built missions for the 2023 competition, all the dimensions are the same.
If you don’t have time or materials, make your own substitute obstacles. Practice flying under chairs instead of the M2-Flash Flood PVC slalom gates. Find a box and cut a hole in it to practice flying into the PVC building for M1-Earthquake Examination.
Tape off squares on the floor to practice precision landing.
Details for Quick Build instructions are available in the Theme & Missions documents.
Yes. If you built missions for the 2023 competition, all the dimensions are the same. Only the 2024 M3-Wildfires mission is different from 2023.
M3-Wildfires. Build at least one of the posts to hold a golf ball and practice, practice, practice. Try to get proficient knocking the golf ball (fire retardant) off in the direction you want it to fall. Make the post different lengths, so the golf ball is at varying heights.
No. Each element within a mission scores points. For example, you can fly through one Tall Gate in M2-Flash Flood and get points. You don’t have to fly through all three gates.
No. Missions do not need to be navigated in any
specific order.
Participants may not have time to complete all the missions. Choose a wise strategy.
The location and placement of the missions will be a surprise and will be revealed on the day of the competition.
Yes. You can redo missions as many times as you want within the allotted time.
No. You will only score points once for a completed mission.
It doesn’t matter. As long as your drone flies completely through the gate, you will get
points.
You must cross the plane of the building from the outside to the inside to score the points.
If the drone flies out the top opening, no points are scored.
If the drone flies out the top opening and back in the top opening, the drone will score points.
A brand new 5th mission will be revealed on the day of the competition. It may require a drone skill that teams have not practiced.
To add to the challenge and make the conditions more realistic, the airspace may have elements, such as downed power lines, broken tree limbs, poor visibility, etc., that make flying a drone more difficult.
2024 Research Project
Drones & Disasters
“Identify up to three (1-3) ways a drone may be used after a natural disaster.”
Middle School participants will create a digital research poster illustrating and explaining up to three (3) ways drones may be used after a natural disaster.
- Digital poster must be submitted as a 2-page PDF.
- Poster may be no larger than 22 in. x 28 in.
- Color or grayscale is acceptable
- Any medium may be used. (e.g. digital, pencil, paint, marker, photographs)
- Physical poster may be created, photographed, and submitted as a PDF file.
- Any photographs or digital media used must be properly credited in Research Bibliography.
First page must contain:
- Theme
- Research description in 300 words or less
- Research description may be handwritten or typed
- Hand drawn or digital illustrations/photos (2-3)
Second page must contain:
- Team/chapter ID number
- Research Bibliography citing sources of research information and illustrations/photos
Create a digital research portfolio illustrating and explaining up to three (3) ways drones may be used after a natural disaster.
- Digital portfolio must be submitted as a multi-page PDF.
- Portfolio must include the following, single-sided, 8 ½” x 11” pages, in this order:
- Title page with the event title, conference city and state, the year, and the team/chapter ID number; one (1) page
- Table of contents; one (1) page
- Theme Research Description(s); two (2) pages
- Research Bibliography; one (1) page
Any photographs or digital media used must be properly credited in Research Bibliography.
The research poster (MS) and research portfolio (HS) will be submitted digitally pre-conference. Please follow the state leadership conference instructions regarding how to pre-submit items to JudgePro by March 27.
Make sure to submit all of your hard work by March 27. *The password is State2024 |
The research poster (MS) and research portfolio (HS) will be submitted digitally pre-conference. Please follow the state leadership conference instructions regarding how to pre-submit items to JudgePro by March 27.
Make sure to submit all of your hard work by March 27. *The password is State2024 |
No. Most importantly, we want everyone to fly and have fun. You can still fly without
them, but you will not make the top 12 semifinalists and won’t be eligible for a trophy.
Yes. Just make sure everything is still readable.
Yes. Twelve (12) Semifinalist Teams participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster or digital research portfolio.
The top ten (10) finalists will be announced at the conference awards ceremony.
Yes. Twelve (12) Semifinalist Teams participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster or digital research portfolio.
- Please tell us about one way a drone may be used after a natural disaster. If you
researched more than one way, just pick one to describe. - Is this solution currently being used or is it a new solution you envisioned?
- How is the natural disaster problem being solved without the use of a drone?
- What advantage does a drone offer compared to the non-drone solution?
- What are the challenges/difficulties to using a drone in your natural disaster solution?
Middle School Event
No. Droneworks is currently an event only for Oklahoma TSA members. The Droneworks competitions occur at the Oklahoma State TSA Conference.
A team of one to two (1-2) students may participate; one (1) entry per team. Up to two (2) teams per chapter may participate.
One student will act as the pilot and the other will act as the spotter.
In a Team of one (1) participant, the individual may serve as both Pilot and Spotter.
Up to two (2) teams per chapter
Minimum equipment needed to start:
- Drone
- Gamepad controller and/or smartphone/tablet
Some of the suggested drones use apps for the smartphone/tablet to fly manually, so please consult your drone’s requirements.
Additional equipment suggested include:
- Extra batteries
- External battery charging hub
- Fully enclosed propeller guard (drone cage)
- Research the given theme and document the use of drones
- Create a digital research poster (MS) and submit it prior to the conference
- Fly the Manual Flight Missions up to three (3) times
- Semifinalists participate in an interview about their drone research
For the Research Project portion of the competitions, Middle School participants have to create Digital Research Poster using the given theme, while High School participants have to prepare a Digital Research Portfolio for the given theme.
For 2024, the Manual Flight Missions will be the same, but the locations and point values of the missions will differ. The location and orientation of missions will have increased difficulty for HS. Additionally, there will be an additional Mystery Mission for HS that will be unveiled on-site.
No. It’s not a race, but a skills competition. Teams are given a limited time to accomplish the given missions and score the most points.
No. At this time, Droneworks competitions do not allow FPV goggles to be worn.
Semifinalists participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster.
The top ten (10) finalists will be announced at the conference awards ceremony.
The Digital Research Poster will be submitted and scored pre-conference.
Participants will be given up to three (3) attempts to achieve their best score by completing the flight missions.
The lowest scoring flight attempt will be dropped. The top two (2) manual flight attempts will be added together to determine the total flight score.
The preliminary round score from the digital research poster and top two (2) manual flight attempts will determine the twelve (12) semifinalists.
Semifinalists participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster.
High School Event
No. Droneworks: HS is currently an event only for Oklahoma TSA members. The Droneworks competitions occur at the Oklahoma State TSA Conference.
National TSA has a new event Drone Challenge (UAV) where participants design, build, assemble, document, and test fly an open-source Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) according to the stated annual theme/problem specifications. For more information, please check the Competitive Events Guide.
A team of one to two (1-2) students may participate; one (1) entry per team. Up to two (2) teams per chapter may participate.
One student will act as the pilot and the other will act as the spotter.
In a Team of one (1) participant, the individual may serve as both Pilot and Spotter.
Up to two (2) teams per chapter
Minimum equipment needed to start:
- Drone
- Gamepad controller and/or smartphone/tablet
Some of the suggested drones use apps for the smartphone/tablet to fly manually, so please consult your drone’s requirements.
Additional equipment suggested include:
- Extra batteries
- External battery charging hub
- Fully enclosed propeller guard (drone cage)
- Research the given theme and document the use of drones
- Create a digital research portfolio (HS) and submit it prior to the conference
- Fly the Manual Flight Missions up to three (3) times
- Semifinalists participate in an interview about their drone research
For the Research Project portion of the competitions, Middle School participants have to create Digital Research Poster using the given theme, while High School participants have to prepare a Digital Research Portfolio for the given theme.
For 2024, the Manual Flight Missions will be the same, but the locations and point values of the missions will differ. The location and orientation of missions will have increased difficulty for HS. Additionally, there will be an additional Mystery Mission for HS that will be unveiled on-site.
No. It’s not a race, but a skills competition. Teams are given a limited time to accomplish the given missions and score the most points.
No. At this time, Droneworks competitions do not allow FPV goggles to be worn.
Semifinalists participate in an on-site interview about their digital research poster or digital research portfolio.
The top ten (10) finalists will be announced at the conference awards ceremony.
The Digital Research Portfolio will be submitted and scored pre-conference.
Participants will be given up to three (3) attempts to achieve their best score by completing the flight missions.
The lowest scoring flight attempt will be dropped. The top two (2) manual flight attempts will be added together to determine the total flight score.
The preliminary round score from the digital research portfolio and top two (2) manual flight attempts will determine the twelve (12) semifinalists.
Semifinalists participate in an on-site interview about their digital research portfolio.
Manual Flight
Manual flight means the pilot operates the drone using human control. This can be done using a gamepad controller (remote controller) or touchscreen joysticks on a smartphone/tablet.
The “Airspace” is the drone’s competition environment. It is an area 10 ft. long x 10 ft. wide.
The drone starts from the 2 ft. x 2 ft. square marked with the letter “H.” This is called the Landing Pad or Helipad.
The drone may be started in any orientation as long as the drone remains completely within the perimeter of the Landing Pad.
The “Landing Pad” is the 2 ft. x 2 ft. square marked with the letter “H.” It is where the drone is to be placed before takeoff.
The pilot is the participant responsible for operating and controlling the drone. The pilot must always remain in the pilot area unless the team has only one (1) member acting as both pilot and spotter.
The “pilot area” is the designated area outside the airspace from where the pilot controls the drone during an attempt. Only the pilot may be in the “pilot area”.
The spotter must remain outside the airspace while power is applied to the drone propellers.
If the drone unintentionally stops during the attempt and no power is applied to the drone propellers, the spotter may enter the airspace, pick up the drone, and move it to the landing pad to continue the attempt.
If the drone is handled outside the landing pad, there will be a penalty. If a part of the drone becomes detached during the attempt, it may be retrieved
after the attempt is scored and there is no penalty. If the spotter retrieves the detached part during the attempt, there will be a penalty.
The spotter may make repairs or switch batteries if the drone is within the landing zone.
The spotter may not touch any part of the missions. A violation of this rule will result in disqualification of the offending team.
If the drone unintentionally stops during the attempt and no power is applied to the drone propellers, the spotter may enter the airspace, pick up the drone, and move it to the landing pad to continue the attempt.
If the drone is handled outside the landing pad, there will be a penalty.
Participants will have a one (1:00) minute attempt to complete flight missions manually.
The timer never pauses.
A drone may temporarily fly “out of bounds” of the airspace. A judge may order an emergency stop if there is an immediate safety issue or a drone is “out of bounds” excessively.
Drones
For 2024, any drone is allowed as long as it complies with the characteristics listed below.
The drone (with all components attached) must not exceed the following dimensions:
- 9 in (23 cm) width
- 9 in (23 cm) length
- 5 in (13 cm) height (as measured from the surface the drone is resting upon to the highest point of the drone, with all its components attached)
The drone weight (with all components attached) must not exceed 3.5 oz (100 g)
For suggested drones, please download the Drone Buying Guide.
The following drones meet the drone requirements and are suggested for the Droneworks competitions. The marketplace for drones is constantly changing, so other permissible drones may be available.
 Ryze Tello/Tello EDU |  |
 Robolink CoDrone EDU |  Pitsco Drone Maker |
Minimum equipment needed to start:
- Drone
- Gamepad controller and/or smartphone/tablet
Some of the suggested drones use apps for the smartphone/tablet to fly manually, so please consult your drone’s requirements.
Additional equipment suggested include:
- Extra batteries
- External battery charging hub
- Fully enclosed propeller guard (drone cage)
Autonomous means the drone operates and reacts only to sensor/camera inputs and to commands pre-programmed by the team onto the smartphone, tablet, or computer. The code is run and the drone flies automatically without human control.
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