How will schools replace the most popular drone in education?
The DJI Tello is longer available for purchase, according to a surprise announcement by DJI last month. The entire education division has been shuttered and products are no longer available including the Tello EDU, RoboMaster, and the DJI Education Hub.
Third party resellers are already running out of remaining inventory.
This is the latest in an escalating trade war between the United States and China following National Defense Authorization Act that banned the use of Chinese-made drones by the military and federal agencies out of national security concerns. Since then, five states have followed suit and banned DJI including Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. Florida adopted a total ban on drones with Chinese components, leaving educators with few options when companies like DJI and Autel control 85% of the global drone market.
The American Drone Security Act passed by congress in December, currently on the President's desk for ratification, would ban the use of any federal funding on drones with components from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. This development could leave many schools without hands-on pathways into high-paying aviation careers.
Planning for sustainable aviation pathways
CrewConcept has partnered with Orqa FPV, one of the few companies innovating in small-UAS with a China-free supply chain for critical components. The company is based in Osijek, Croatia and is completing development of NDAA-products for education including the new Soccerdrone, micro FPV drone, and simulators. The Soccerdrone will soon be compatible with Scratch and Python block coding, supported by CrewConcepts's aviation career skills curriculum.
All products for middle, high school, and college are interoperable and backed by a manufacturer's warranty with on-call technical support.
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