Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the K12 Stem Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Shippensburg High School STEM team heads to state finals with agricultural drone project
Summary
Fowler’s STEM team advanced to the Pennsylvania governor’s STEM challenge state finals with a prototype agricultural drone that uses an NDVI sensor to map plant health; students seek a heavy-lift drone to demonstrate flight at Penn State.
Fowler’s high-school STEM team presented its Eros X agricultural-drone project to the board after the budget discussion, saying the team qualified for the governor’s STEM challenge state finals for the first time in school history and will travel to Penn State on April 29–30.
The project: students described a prototype quadcopter system that uses an NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) sensor and a Raspberry Pi compute module to capture overhead images and estimate plant-health variations in farm fields. “The NDVI… explains to you how much light the plants are reflecting,” student Everett Ramen said; team members said the imaging can show where fertilizer or other inputs might be most needed. The team’s poster and demo included a sensor package and a 3D-printed mounting box; students said the prototype successfully processed images in classroom tests but that the current model cannot yet lift the full sensor package in flight because of weight and cost constraints.
Funding and support: the state’s STEM-challenge stipend provided $600 for project materials and an additional $200 if teams reach state competition. The students thanked industry partner G from Letterkenny Army Depot for weekly mentorship and access to better 3D printing material; the district’s FFA advisor also provided agricultural context. Students requested community help to borrow or rent a heavier-lift drone for a short period so the team can demonstrate a flight-capable prototype at the state event.
Why it matters: the team represents the district at a statewide competition and the project combines computing, sensors and local agriculture needs: Franklin County ranks highly among Pennsylvania counties in agricultural acreage. The presentation also highlighted applied STEM learning and local partnerships with military engineering staff and higher-education labs.
Ending: the board thanked the students and advisor; administration said it would circulate the team’s equipment request and explore possible community or university partnerships to secure a demonstration drone for states.
