On June 25 at the University of Tennessee Brehm Animal Science Building Arena, local high school student Callie Petty placed a VR headset over her head and grabbed a white video game controller. In front of her was a large obstacle course. Hundreds of middle school students at the 4-H Electric Camp on UT’s campus are in attendance.
She waited for Hao Gan — an assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science at UT and the supervisor of the new AI in Agriculture camp — to start the timer.
“Go!” Gan said.
In a second, a small, red drone floated into the air and weaved through the obstacles. Petty, along with two other students enrolled at the camp, competed against each other to see who can guide the drone through the obstacle course the fastest. Each student had three attempts to achieve their fastest time.
“They have been practicing a few hours a day for the last three weeks and a half,” Gan said.
The drone racing marked the end of the four-week camp. Following the camp, the students now have the skills to apply for a commercial drone certification through the Federal Aviation Administration. Petty said she plans to apply for one to follow her passion for photography.
“It's really going to help me in my future career,” she said.
The new program is funded by a four-year federal grant through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture worth over $740,000. According to a news release, the program was developed in collaboration with Tennessee 4-H Youth Development, UT AgResearch and Education Centers and Rocket Drones.
Gan said the program is aimed to teach high school students like Petty the mechanics of engineering and artificial intelligence within the agricultural industry.
“When you hear about agriculture … you don't think about robotics,” Gan said. “We try to use this camp … to let the young kids know that you can apply the cool technologies they are interested in to solve a lot of challenges we're facing right now in agriculture.”
The demonstration was also a chance for the attending middle school students to get a glimpse of what the new program has to offer.
“Hopefully, since the grant lasts for a couple more years, [the middle school students] have an opportunity to participate in that as well,” said Jamie Harris, the interim director of Tennessee 4-H.
Next year’s AI in Agriculture camp is open to up to 12 students between the ages of 15 and 20. Han hopes more students will participate in the program next year.
“We are improving year by year,” he said.
