We are proud to announce that the first project ArkLoop will tackle is the increasing role of autonmous drones and drone swarms, and their applications in a multitude of industry. This 6-month long journey will comprise of members creating a propeller plane drone from scratch, including coding the flight control algorithms and control systems themselves. Phase 2 of the project will include a plane supporting payloads, additional quality of life modifications (stronger computer, waterproofing, etc.), and autonomous flying with machine learning algorithms, object detection, and other new technologies directly from the industry. We hope to present our ideas to firefighters before the end of July, which should be in time for the California wildfire season. This project will allow students to study AI technologies as well as develop their business skills in a startup-like scenario.

Our club exists to provide underprivileged students or interested peers a chance at tackling the high-beginner-curve robotics arena. With that in mind, we decided the best thing for Arkloop would be a chance in its mission and goal to provide increased support for member projects. That means ArkLoop will become a support structure for projects by its members. The club will follow up with these projects periodically, and the move was taken to increase the diversity of existing projects to allow for more flexibility within the club.

Having had their informational meeting this past Thursday, interest in ArkLoop has peaked and new members have joined ArkLoop. We are proud to announce our team is around 20 strong, and includes people with both no experience and some who have experience. We will be beginning to reach out to companies for grants and sponsorships. If you would like to donate we would be glad for your contribution. We are a 501(c)(3) corporation.