Odyssey Academy receives special drone presentation

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Students in the Odyssey Academy received a special drone presentation courtesy of drone manufacture DJI. The drone company also hosts the international robotics competition known as RoboMaster.

The event took place on Monday at Stephen F. Austin Middle School in Bryan. A DJI representative brought in several drone models which were showcased along with their capabilities. Students were able to play around with the drones and learn about their programing.

Odyssey Academy coordinator, Naveen Cunha said Odyssey Academy has supported the Texas A&M’s RoboMaster team for the last couple of years by letting the team use their shop while they provide presentations to the students.

“Having a representative from the actual organization come as well just helps cement that relationship,” Cunha said. “It also helps me show the students what’s potentially next for them.”

Cunha said one of his goals is to expose students to the world of robotics beyond what they see in media such as Transformers or battle bots.

“We just finished up a project where they had to research different robots and they found robots in the medical field, in the entertainment industry besides movies and so on,” Cunha said. “Now they’re going to learn how to program some of these things.”

As a resident of 32-years Cunha said the community’s support for the local robotics programs has been amazing. Cunha said it’s all about providing the students at Bryan ISD with options and opportunities.

“I don’t want to channel them in a particular direction, I want them to just understand there’s just so many things out there,” Cunha said. “We have a state university in our backyard. There’s so many options and opportunities available for them and it starts here in the classroom.”

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