Drone light show: what is it and how is it performed?
About drone light shows
During major events such as the Olympic Games, many viewers remember the drone light show, which is increasingly being used at various events. Lumasky Drone Light Shows Company organizes drone shows for world events of all sizes. Such shows involve from several hundred to several thousand quadcopters in a coherent performance. It seems that it takes a lot of pilots to implement elements involving hundreds or thousands of drones, but that's not true. In fact, the "figures" and aerial "choreography" were created using 3D animation tools. And already on the basis of the developed pattern the display is carried out. Special software is used for this purpose. This allows you to assign a flight path for each drone to create an impressive light show. And the execution of the pre-designed patterns is monitored by only one operator. This article explains how a quadcopter light show is designed and implemented.
What is a drone light show?
A drone light show is performed outdoors, usually in the evening or at night. That's why the LEDs look bright and vary in color. Connecting in a certain order, the crafts create all sorts of shapes. Some of them may have smoke sources. Each drone involved in the performance performs a predetermined flight pattern. Emission patterns are programmed into the respective programs, where all the drones are accounted for. The concept of coordinated drone flight was first introduced by Vijay Kumar, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, in 2012. He demonstrated how to combine small and maneuverable stunt drones for use in construction as well as search and rescue operations. Slowly but surely the idea of using more coordinated aircraft began to evolve. Well now quadcopter shows are not uncommon.
The software ensures that everything goes according to plan, so the show is controlled by 1 or 2 people.
How does a quadcopter light show work?
A drone light show looks like something of a challenge to implement, and that first impression is completely true. Performances involving a large number of flying machines are especially difficult to develop.
1. Designing quadcopters. Models used in performance shows have a completely different design and performance than consumer drones. Most show copters have no cameras, but are equipped with bright LEDs, various sensors, GPS, and a battery. These devices are very lightweight and controllable. They are made by different companies. For example, Intel develops high-performance drones using foam and plastic.
2. Flight planning. This stage consists of developing the different movements that the drones will perform as part of the show. This process can take several weeks or several months. Most often, 3D and animation programs such as Blender are used to create the movements.
3. Testing the choreography. After production, everything is tested several times to see: what worked, what needs to be refined, what changes need to be made, etc. You can't have a successful presentation without this step, and thanks to specialized software, the testing process is much faster.
4. Correct choice of location. When all the presentation is ready and tested, a suitable location is chosen. Usually a list of several locations is agreed upon in advance, so that at the end all that is left is to choose from the proposed options, rather than searching from scratch.
5. Pre-show check. Immediately before the show, each drone is tested. Weather conditions are also analyzed and all aspects are finalized.
The light drone software comes with several special safety features that will make the whole process safe and efficient. The Go-Fence feature will keep each drone within the set parameters. This comes in handy if one of the drones loses power during flight and falls to the ground. Then the device will hit the specified perimeter and not the audience. In addition, the program has an interface that can be used to land one or more drones in case of problems. Even if the laptop or launch system fails, one pilot can take control of all the drones. In this way, the show will go on successfully.
Drone light show or fireworks?
Over the course of their development and proliferation, drones have successfully replaced many other technologies in various industries. It is very likely that quadcopter light shows will soon completely replace fireworks and fireworks. In addition, drones have a number of significant advantages over fireworks:
1. The quadcopter can be used repeatedly, unlike disposable fireworks;
2. noise from quadcopters is much less than fireworks;
3. You can customize the presentation to your liking;
4. Quadcopter presentations are much safer, do not injure people and do not ignite;
The only upside to fireworks is that one fireworks show is much cheaper than one drone show.
How many drones does it take to create a show?
The number of quadcopters can vary, whether it's 10 or several thousand aircraft. It all depends on the occasion, event, audience, and other variables. A small local show uses about 50 drones, while large events such as the Olympics involve 5,000 or more quadcopters.
How much does a drone show cost?
The cost of a light drone show starts at several thousand dollars. The exact cost is determined based on the client's request: the complexity of the production, the number of drones, the duration of the show.