Smart Control Helicopter Competition as a STEM outreach program for schools in Malaysia

Objective of this paper is to report the outreach of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program in Malaysia conducted by UKM. The program involved school students in Selangor where they learned to use a program code called Arduino to control mini helicopters. Students were exposed on how to assemble simple circuit for control system and how the circuit was connected to a micro controller, which communicate with the computer. This equipped the students with basic knowledge in making the right program to move the helicopter. All learning activities were greatly assisted by university students through a teaching module. Moreover, the program was conducted in the form of competition and this helped to bring out the competitiveness within the students. As a result, students were able to garner new knowledge within a short span of time.