Help SJSU students build and test a machine-learning drone collision-avoidance project through hands-on experimentation

ICARUS is a new SJSU club of graduate students in electrical engineering, software engineering and data science. We want to turn what we know into something you can watch fly: a drone that sees an obstacle and steers around it on its own.

Our first project is a collision-avoidance system built on sensor data and computer vision. Members will learn to fly a drone, understand how its flight controller works, and see how an autonomous drone senses its surroundings and reacts in real time.

The project is open to students at every level of experience. Some will write code while others set up hardware, run tests or collect and analyze data. Every member documents what they learn, so students who join later can pick up where we left off.

What we need first is equipment. Your gift buys two drones with spare parts and propellers, extra batteries and chargers, and a set of obstacles to fly through. Students bring their own laptops and use software the university already licenses, so your support goes straight to the gear.

Our goal is $1,200, and our stretch goal is $1,800, which would let us add a LIDAR sensor to the project. Give by December 1!