Operation Squirrel

What Is It?

A complete, ready-to-fly, open-source autonomous drone kit designed for real-world AI, robotics, and engineering education. Unlike closed commercial systems, every component, algorithm, and toolchain is accessible, modifiable, and fully documented — giving students industry-grade experience with the technologies used in modern robotics companies.

What's Included

Fully assembled, ready-to-fly quadcopter with AI-following
Jetson Orin Nano (pre-configured) for computer vision and AI workloads
Autonomous Flight Stack: detection, tracking, localization, and control
Complete industry-grade software toolkit: NVIDIA CUDA, NVIDIA TensorRT, OpenCV, OSRemote app
Developer documentation, starter projects, and 1 year of engineering support

Key Benefits — Real Skills That Lead to Real Job Offers

Employers have already made high value offers to candidates based on their work with this platform.

Real Engineering Skills — Not Toy-Level Coding
Students learn industry-standard tools used in robotics and autonomy:
- Linux, Docker
- Git/GitHub workflows
- C++, NVIDIA CUDA, NVIDIA TensorRT, GPU-accelerated OpenCV
- Real-time flight control loops, PID, Kalman filters, sensor fusion
- Hardware/software debugging, MCAP data logging, data-driven algorithm design
- MAVLink communication protocol
Fully Open and Extensible — hardware and software completely open; no black boxes.
Hands-On AI/Robotics Learning — real-time AI algorithms, real sensor data, real flight behavior, and real engineering tradeoffs.
Immediate Success — includes a working AI-follow demo on day one.
Future-Proof Investment — off-the-shelf parts and open-source code; no vendor lock-in.

Who Is It For?

High school & university AI/robotics courses
Engineering, CS, and Mechatronics labs
Advanced STEM clubs & research groups
Aspiring engineers who want career-focused robotics, AI, and software experience
Anyone seeking real-world, high-value engineering skills that stand out to employers

Curriculum & Teaching Materials

Every kit includes a complete set of classroom-ready resources designed to help teachers start strong and keep students engaged.

Included materials:

Getting Started Guide (hardware + software setup)
Step-by-step lesson plans aligned to STEM/AI learning goals
Example C++ projects for immediate hands-on use
Curated sample datasets for AI and computer vision activities
Simulation guide using SITL and Jetson tools
Autonomous flight guide for real drone missions
Teacher onboarding resources and ongoing support

Optional Add-Ons: Extended curriculum units, advanced drone autonomy workshops, and optional on-site training.

Pricing

Operation Squirrel is offered as a complete classroom-ready AI drone development kit. Each kit includes everything needed to teach real-world autonomy, computer vision, and engineering principles.