Hi, I’m Kate in 9B, Last Friday I went to Korea to participate in “K-Drone World Grand Prix”; this consisted of schools from over ten different countries. I felt proud to have the opportunity to represent ZKIS in Korea. The competition had three different kinds of races; speed, obstacles and relay.
On Saturday, the first day of the competition we completed obstacle, relay and speed qualifiers. When I was waiting for my turn in the obstacle race, I accidentally put my drone controller’s direction up so the drone flew out of the stadium. At first I didn’t realise what happened but when returning my drone was not there. My team member’s brother informed me of what happened, so I had to walk around the stadium in order for my drone to return to me. My result wasn’t good in the obstacle race but the others, who joined the race with me scored well. ZKIS had two teams with four people in each for the relay race. Our team result was awful because I couldn’t control my drone properly. I felt sorry that it had impacted my team members also. The other ZKIS team scored better and ended up being placed second overall in that event.
In the speed event the rules were strict, each participant needed to complete the race fast but still maintain a high level of accuracy. We were instructed that we must land our drones in the designated landing zone the right side up or we would have to return to the start. Another ZIS student and me completed this event together. When the whistle blew both our drones took off at the same time but mine had a low battery and I had to restart. My team member landed his drone in the correct area but it was upside-down so he had to restart. After beginning again, miraculously I won! My team member tolerated me, which I’m very thankful for, as normally he is better than me. Six students went to the play-offs and guess what! Four of these were ZKIS students including me. Three students were placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the speed event. I really enjoyed the experience and if I have another opportunity to go I hope to return. I need to practice and improve my drone control in order to be a better competitor next time.
