Judging Roles

Overview

The purpose of this section is to ensure a consistent judging process is followed at all Aerial Drone Competition Qualifying Events, the planning and execution of which are led by adult individuals known as Event Partners. This section describes the roles and responsibilities of the Judges, Judge Advisor, and Event Partner in the Judging process.

Teams of students showcase their knowledge and skills in piloting and programming a drone. Students demonstrate their knowledge of the Design Process by documenting in a Competition Logbook.

Students exhibit their piloting skills and game strategy during match play and autonomous flight skills challenges. All these activities are to be completed by the students with minimal adult assistance. Students must make the decisions, complete the work, and demonstrate their learning and knowledge to Judges for their team to qualify for Judged Awards.

Judge Advisor

• Organize and oversee the overall judging process at an event
• Facilitate deliberations and deliver final award winners to Event Partner
• The Judge Advisor must be at least age 20 or older

Judge

• Judges evaluate teams to determine eligibility for Judged Awards
• Judges who interact directly with students work in groups
• Judges  must be at least age 18 years or older and not part of an Aerial Drone Competition team

Event Partner

• The Event Partner oversees the planning and operation of the entire event, and provides support for the Judges and Judge Advisor
• The Event Partner is an Adult over the age of 18 that is not a student.
• The Event Partner and Judge Advisor must be two different eligible people – an Event Partner may not serve as a Judge Advisor at their own event, and Event Partners may not recommend or assign Judged Awards to any team
• The Event Partner and the Judge Advisor should work together to come up with a schedule for judging teams at the event, and to ensure there are adequate Judges for the event. It is recommended to have 2 Judges for every 8-10 teams at an event, if judging in person
• It is helpful that some judges have a background in STEM, programming, or drones in order to evaluate the more technical awards. Good sources of volunteers can be local STEM-based companies or sponsors, local colleges, and program alumni.