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WeRobotics cofounder Adam Klaptocz recently traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to conduct a training seminar in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The agenda for this course consisted of an introduction to drone mapping and GIS applications, a review of the Drone Code of Conduct for Social Good, and hands-on pilot training with both fixed-wing (senseFly eBee) and rotary-wing drones (DJI Phantom 4). In addition, participants were taught how to process the data captured by the drones (using Pix4D Mapper) and learned the different uses for the various data products which exist. Past drone missions for social good were discussed as examples, such as post-disaster assessment and relocation after 2014 Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, and even locally the flood preparation and prevention in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2013.

Adam’s visit to Haiti also served as a scoping mission for the possibility of a Haiti Flying Labs. We hope that the training seminar will help local Haitians better realize the potential of drones and other robotics for creating social good in their communities. You can find a photo montage from the 3-day training seminar below:

Field work is always the most exciting, but some classroom-based theory, presented by Adam, is always required. Field work is the most exciting, but some classroom-based theory, presented by Adam, is always required.

A first look at the eBee Plus, before heading to the field for training.

(Newly trained) Master pilot Sony Belizaire, testing CRS’s new Phantom

Preparing a mapping flight plan for the eBee, with some support from the local football team.

Who says that fixed-wing drones are not vertical takeoff?

In order to boost interest in robotics technology in Haiti, WeRobotics and CRS co-hosted a small Haitian Drone Community Meeting, with representatives from USAID, local drone photography businesses, and other NGOs.