By Prithikkashinie Vaithiesvaran
Participants using the ArduPilot SITL Simulator’s software during the workshop. Photo by Natasha Mark Kar Yee
Engineering Campus, 3rd April 2024 - ArduPilot SITL Simulator is the third series of workshops organized by Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Drone Club (USM Drone Club) at Dewan PUMA, Universiti Sains Malaysia Engineering Campus. The objective of this technical workshop is to teach students to simulate a drone in a virtual environment and equip them with the readiness to dive into cyberspace.
According to the president of the USM Drone Club, Ooi Yan Liang, Aerospace Engineering 3, they achieved the aim of the event, which was to ensure the participants gained more knowledge regarding modes of flight and types of drones.
“I would say the event did reach my expectations, even though it was delayed. However, I am satisfied with the attendance of 40 participants although we targeted 50 participants initially”, he said.
He also added that many students were not able to attend the event as some students were not on campus due to the online classes during the month of Ramadan. Apart from that, some were attending tarawih prayers held at the mosque.
“We chose this location as it is strategic and located near the hostels. We thought it would be easy for the students to return to their hostel after the event. It was also easy to book as we used Pusat Pengetahuan, Komunikasi & Teknologi (PPKT)’s ServisDesk application”, said Yan Liang.
Yan Liang also mentioned that the committee which consisted of 10 people, was able to conduct the event smoothly and the emcee was familiar with the flow of the event as they had frequent internal training and online rehearsals leading up to the day of the event.
“It was not easy to find participants as many people were busy at the start of the semester. Our publicity team blasted our poster through various social media sites such as WhatsApp and Telegram”, he mentioned.
According to the Secretary of the USM Drone Club, Natasha Mark Kar Yee, Aerospace Engineering 2, the Ardupilot SITL Simulator workshop surpassed the expectations she had.
“I was in charge of completing the paperwork for the event and attaining approval from Bahagian Hal Ehwal Pembangunan Pelajar & Alumni (BHEPA) before we could proceed. I was also in charge of preparing the Google Forms and QR codes for registration, attendance, and feedback from the participants”, she added.
She also mentioned that the workshop was technical related and hands-on. The participants were taught to install and download software and their relevant systems to simulate drones online. They also had a quiz session via Quizizz to test the participants' knowledge.
“I think the largest challenge faced was the engagement of the audience. We were afraid there wouldn’t be much response from the audience as we estimated to have only a few participants. Thankfully, the emcees were able to navigate the event skillfully and managed to make sure the participants were attentive throughout the event.” said Natasha.
“Overall, I am happy about how the event turned out and I hope we are able to attract more participants for our online workshop on the 19th of April, 2024, and make our event a bigger success. I look forward to our club organizing more impactful events in the future”, said Ooi Yan Liang.
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