A 20-year-old Nigerian man named David Opateyibo has successfully invented a locally made flying drone that could fly a few minutes in the air.
David built Nigeria’s first locally made drone at the age of 17 as reported by FACE2FACE. He led a team of Lagos State Polytechnic students to produce the country’s first prototype of a drone, which authorities in Lagos hope to deploy for security surveillance.
He has always been passionate about technology and aircraft since he was a kid. He started out creating airplanes from paper, cardboard, and other readily available materials which led him to enroll in the International College of Aeronautics, Nigeria for aircraft building technology (ABT).
David was so advanced with his knowledge of aircraft technology that he was invited to also become an instructor while still studying. The drone project is part of the training curriculum at the University with the aim of developing technology and empowering young people.
When tested, David’sdrone could fly 15 minutes in the air with a maximum altitude of 2000 feet. The drone is a high-breed mix of existing drone components and locally fabricated material.
”Aside from using drones for aerial surveillance, you can also use them for aerial photography and videography, or for broadcasting, incidence control, or pipeline and power line inspection. You can also use drones in agriculture, to analyze farm produce,” he said.
David obtained his remote pilot license (RPL) at the age of 19 in the United States of America under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He is also an active member of the Nigeria Unmanned Systems and Robotics Association (NUSA).
David has also completed a 2-year diploma in Applied Aviation Science where he led a team of 5 students of the International College of Aeronautics in building a metal 2-seat airplane.
The 2-seat airplane is the first aircraft, STOL CH750 at Zenith Aircraft Company’s facility in Missouri US, and Mexico. The aircraft is the first of its kind in the country built by five students.
He stated that he believes that drone technology is where the future lies because drones are being used to carry out tasks that previously only manned aircraft were known to do ranging from military to civilian uses.
“We are in the era of data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and the internet of things (IOT), and with these, we cannot but fathom what the future will bring drones are not going anywhere any time soon,” he said.
When David is not working on drones, he spends his time building and flying radio-controlled models for fun, helping students with their robotic projects, playing the keyboard, and providing different digital services such as writing sales copies for various business products and niches.
David said his greatest accomplishment in life would be influencing as many lives as possible positively, contributing to the development of wherever he finds me, and providing service..
”My greatest achievement would be in service. When it comes to what I want to achieve, the sky is the starting point. I want to be a force of progressive and revolutionary change in the world, as a whole,” he said.