I am Michael Kronmiller, a Senior at the Bullis School, in Potomac, Maryland. My passion is robotics, particularly in aviation. Two years ago I began a project to design a technology to find people in avalanches. The region I chose to focus on was Nepal because of the need to apply advanced technologies to rescue methods.

Not only did I want to design a technology to find people in avalanches, but also I wanted to help the areas affected by these catastrophes. With the help of a guide in Nepal we located Kanjirowa School whic was more than willing to work with us on the drone project. At the start of this campaign the students have received six drone kits with the help of Kashmir World Foundation, a U.S.-based organization that teaches students how to build drones.

I am trying to raise money to support the most critical phase of my international collaborative STEM project that is aimed at developing sensor-equipped, small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for rescues of avalanche victims in Nepal. The project is both educational and humanitarian.  Please see nepalrobotics.org.  Because the drones and sensors are costly and systems tests must be conducted at Mount Everest, my expenses are enormous.  Crowdfunding is crucially important, right now, because my final testing is coming up in March!  

Avalanches in Nepal take lives and destroy homes, schools, businesses, and critical infrastructure—every year!  These events deal crippling blows to a national economy and remote localities that depend heavily on income from climbers and trekkers. Improved responses to avalanches will not only save lives, but also help people who greatly depend upon tourism in remote areas of Nepal.  This is where sensor-equipped sUAS for avalanche response can make a huge difference.  Contributions made now will help me with the most critical stage of research and development—on site tests of the full-scale prototype for the operational systems.  Moreover, funding for additional drone kits for high school students in Kathmandu will contribute to capacity-building, which promises to broaden and deepen Nepal’s nascent high tech efforts and thereby contribute to improving economic and social conditions in what is the fourth poorest country on earth.

I need $30,000, to fund my March trip to Nepal and the new system. In addition to round trip air fare, I also need to cover guide fees, hotels and meals—and chartering helicopters, at least $4,000 to and from each remote test site.  My family, my school, and the Kashmir World Foundation have already invested well over $25,000 in equipment and the 2015 trip to Nepal for proof-of-concept flight testing at Kala Patthar, 1000 feet above Everest Base Camp, and in the Annapurna Region. Distinguished attorneys, who are experts in drone law and export licensing have generously contributed their indispensable efforts pro bono. Other advisers, all distinguished in their fields, have kindly contributed countless hours to this project.  They are identified on my website, nepalrobotics.org.

If I do not reach my entire funding goal, I will use what I receive to defray my project expenses.  Since the biggest, single expense will likely be helicopter chartering, contributions will pay for that, first.  After that, contributions will be aimed at the fare for the international flights, guides, hotels, local ground transportation, and food.  If there are medical expenses, I will cover those, myself.

ALL DONATIONS TO THE PROJECT ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW (see: http://www.kashmirworldfoundation.org/#!donate/...)

I have to admit that this project is not like anything I have attempted, before.  When I came up with the idea, in December 2013, I had little idea of what I was going to face.  Getting this started was was not easy.  Assembling an advisory group of world-class experts was a big challenge.  Enlisting my brother was easy, but I had to ask a lot of him, including a journey to Nepal with me, for the flights of the early test models.  I should have done more, sooner, to enlist support from the public, but I really had my hands full with all the technical and management challenges.  Now that I am down to the wire for the final system tests in Nepal, I need that support and I need it soon.

I am the first to acknowledge the risks and obstacles.  Just getting to and from Nepal is not as simple as it might seem.  The world has a lot of tough places, and transiting some of them that lie between the U.S. and Nepal is potentially dangerous.  Before all that, I have to be sure my inoculations are up-to-date, I have to get my visa, and I have to be sure I have whatever U.S. export licenses and Nepal Government authorizations are required.  Things can go wrong at any one of those points, not to mention, when I get to Nepal.  Last trip, my brother became quite ill with acute gastroenteritis and acute mountain sickness, and had to be hospitalized.  The helicopter rides from Kathmandu to Kala Patthar and back were white knuckle experiences—but incredibly exciting.  I had more than a few hair raising moments on the roads and suspension bridges in remote areas, too.  But, the Kanjirowa School was a wonderful host, the guides were great professionals—and the homemade quadcopters flew!  One made it to over 19,000 feet from sea level.  It did have kind of an uncontrolled landing, but the damage was surprisingly slight.  You can see the videos at nepalrobotics.org.

I know what I am up against, but I am stoked for the next trip!  Flying drones at Mount Everest!  How cool is that!   My simple, little quad did it—so simple no export license was required.  My octocopter, “Guardian,” is far more robust, much more capable, and its programming is far more sophisticated.  The chances of a successful test flight are good, although I do plan to try to get the bird to fly to 23,000 feet at the Khumbu Icefall.  True, there is more than just flying and video facing me, next March, and I am well prepared to handle it. I have learned a lot about sensors and conditions at Everest and Annapurna, and I plan to meet with rescuers, while I am there, to deepen my practical knowledge. There is a lot more to this than the books, maps, and technical papers I have been studying for more than two years.

All physical perks will either be provided by me or by Cafe Press. I will be sending out a survey for shirt sizes at the end of May. Expect to receive your shipment sometime in July.

Adventure Samara, the coordinator in Nepal, is arranging discounts for travel, there, for major contributors.  I will be sending a survey out to you in May concerning itineraries, along with the Cafe Press survey.

All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. (see: http://www.kashmirworldfoundation.org/#!donate/...)