Teaching Students the Basics of AI, ML Using Drones in Cameroon

By Cameroon Flying Labs

It’s as easy as balancing the thrust and weight through code to let the drone move. Training is one of the Cameroon Flying Labs' main activities, and we aim at shaping future generations with technological in-demand skills to make the world a much better place.

Starting October 2020, we have been working with the Department of Computer Science of the University of Yaoundé I, the capital city of Cameroon, to provide students with drone computing skills. The first part targets Bachelor's Degree students and is building mobile apps to control a drone (Parrot, DJI). We are using the Parrot and DJI SDK to build apps. We also teach AI and machine learning and can build computer vision applications with the live drone feed. The second part of the training targets Master’s Degree students, and it focuses on coding the core system of the drone, the flight controller. Finally, students are taught to build a real-time embedded application that will run on the Crazyflie 2.1 drones.

Tapping into drone computing unveils endless social use cases with drones. In Africa, Drone computing courses are almost inexistent, and drone software engineer roles worldwide are booming. Students can even build up their own drone companies targeting cargo and wildlife monitoring with their drones.

So much has been done yet, but with so few resources. For example, our fleet of training drones has less than four drones, and to meet the demand, we will need to get some new equipment. However, despite the shortage of equipment, our students' passion, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn gave us the determination to stay on track.

We would like to thank the University of Yaoundé I for their interest in Drone Computing and Global Map Lumia for providing the training drones, which are the latest in drone computing. We invite you to stay tuned to get updates on how drone computing is changing the face of Africa.