SDSU, Oglala Lakota College partner for drone training

A collaboration between South Dakota State University and Oglala Lakota College this past summer brought uncrewed aircraft systems technology to tribal members at the college in Kyle and at Lower Brule High School.

SDSU’s Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences is a member of the Federal Aviation Administration Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative. The Lakota Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Program provides instruction and training and is part of SDSU’s uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) certificate and minor programs.

The first-time program included remote learning and hands-on flight operations, which generated considerable interest with 70 tribal members participating online and 28 at the flight training.

SDSU representatives who participated in the program included instructor Richard Stephens, assistant professors Bruce Millett and Maitiniyazi “Mason” Maimaitijiang and remote pilot Paul Townsend. Oglala Lakota College hosts included Math, Science and Technology Chair Dana Gehring, faculty member Camille Griffith and adjunct instructor Bree Oatman. 

The distance learning sessions over three evenings in June and July included topics such as advanced air mobility, autonomous systems, commercial UAS applications and the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System. Much time was also spent covering topics related to the FAA’s Part 107 – small uncrewed aircraft systems regulations, including test preparation, flight training and certification. Part 107 certification is required to fly drones in a commercial capacity. 

Hands-on manual flight training, two daylong sessions with one at each school, included basic UAS systems operations and advanced/programmed uncrewed aerial vehicle operations. 

While on-site at Oglala Lakota College and Lower Brule High School, students received essential training in the areas of flight safety operations, manual takeoff, flight and landing. Students flew a variety of UAS quadcopters at varying altitudes and trained on a variety of flight scenarios and situational awareness conditions. Another aspect of the flight training included using cameras to take aerial images using RGB and multispectral sensors. The images collected were of Lower Brule High School and Oglala College buildings. 

A follow-up Zoom meeting in August was spent debriefing participants and discussing aircraft and projects. 

Tribal members were at the training for a variety of reasons and applications. Some wanted to use drones to understand geological structure and hydrological flows, and others wanted the training for search and rescue purposes. 

Millett said the program started when tribal members needed training on some UAS equipment they had and reached out to Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences head Robert Watrel for help. The off-campus outreach drone training wasn’t just new to the tribal schools — it was new to SDSU as well. 

While there’s no future training lined up yet, Millett said there’s a desire by both parties to do this type of training again. 

“We enjoyed doing it. If it does spark some interest out there, then we’ll hopefully hear back and get something going again,” Millett said. The partnership also has the potential to attract Oglala Lakota and Lower Brule students to SDSU’s UAS programs. 

To learn more about the Lakota Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Program.