The 2022 season was a huge success! Thanks to the participants, their parents/guardians, and our awesome volunteers. As we’ve done in years past, we met throughout the Madison, WI area over 3 Saturdays and had some special experiences.
Some key outcomes from this year
- Amazing teamwork amongst TATTS members
- Members demonstrated social skills both in ad hoc and structured activities
- We saw a whole new world from the air
Session 1: First Outdoor Session
We switched things around this year and had our first session in the Fort Atkinson, WI area. We spent a bunch of time flying but also worked with the augmented sandbox and the TATTS Table. The team reviewed old and new imagery/videos and talked about what they could see in the imagery and our perception of what people in the pictures and videos were thinking and saying to each other. We use “thought bubbles” to help pull ideas out of participants. They were a big hit this year as members pointed out all sorts of fascinating things that people in the pictures and videos could be thinking.
TATTS Sandbox
Our augmented reality sandbox is a favorite of everyone. TATTS members are asked to try and replicate what they’ve seen through the drone in real life. Real-time feedback (topography/colors projected onto the sand) gives them a sense of what they’re building. Plus, you get to make it rain or “lava” with hand gestures. The sand gives a nice sensory break to participants as well.
TATTS Table
We worked with the TATTS Table again this year reviewing pervious year imagery of the place we were at. We also got some practice with a geographic information system (GIS) software that allowed participants to turn on and off different images and start to map things on the images like houses, roads, and things of interest. These map manipulation skills are a precursor to employment skills in the surveying and mapping industry. The TATTS Table helps us inject employment skill development into a fun and engaging environment.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pics or videos of us using the TATTS Table this year so here are a few from 2021.
And of course we did a bunch of flying too. TATTS members flew their own drones and the ones we provide. They were so good at the scavenger hunt finding certain barns in the distance, pictures of themselves, etc. We loved to see them working together to as the more advanced pilots showed skills to the younger kids.
Session 2: Second Outdoor Session
TATTS members got a lot of flying in at the 2nd outing but also had time on the simulator which was a big hit – probably because it’s like a video game… And they’re good at it! The scavenger hunt was brought back with even more challenges as the local farmers had hidden things in the fields and TATTS members had to work together while flying to identify them. It’s harder than you’d think!
Session 3: Final Session
Our final session brought the team out New Glarus, WI. We welcome a few participants who hadn’t been able to make it to previous outings, had some of the more advanced pilots share some things about their drones and flying and then headed out to the field for flying and simulator practice.
