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How Drone Light Shows Work

If you followed the Olympics, you must have observed the drone show. While the various sports involved in the Olympics are the main attraction, the drone light show undoubtedly created a memorable experience that everyone is still talking about and wondering how it works months after the Olympics. So, how do drone light shows work?

Drone light shows involve hundreds or thousands of drones designed to communicate and execute choreographed patterns. The choreography is created using 3D animation tools. Then software that Drone Show use features a flight path to each drone as part of the pattern. As such, you only need one flight operator to conduct the show.

What is a drone light show?

Drone light shows are made with drones featuring LED lights programmed to perform stunts and form patterns in the sky. Some of them can also carry smoke ejectors.

These drones can form any pattern as long as it’s preprogrammed using the relevant software. The thought of having hundreds or thousands of pilots controlling each drone is hectic and would be impossible.  But programming, AI, and 3D modeling ensure smooth coordination and only requires 1 or 2 drone pilots. 

Flight planning

This is the most crucial part of the process. It’s where programmers design the various movements the drones will pull off, and it can take weeks or even months to complete. To achieve this, they use 3D animation software like Blender to design the choreography. 

Since this technology is relatively new, there are no best practices or bad practices. All you need to do is tell a story with the drones like you would with pixel art. 

But with drone light shows, you need to consider that the choreography must be viewable from all directions. If you’re into animation, this is another way that you can bring your imagination into reality. Drone Light Show Company does this quickly. 

Testing

Once you’ve completed the choreography, it’s time to test it. This is to make sure the drones take off and execute the whole choreography without colliding and ensure the drones can achieve the required distance between each other and the needed speed to complete the choreography. 

And no, you don’t need to launch the drones to test them. That would lead to crashes and make the whole process quite expensive. Instead, you can use software like the Drone Light Show Company uses to conduct the test and make the necessary adjustments. This software simulates the drone’s size and speed, enhancing the accuracy of the test. 

Finding a suitable site

Once you’ve tested the drones, it’s time to find the best place to deploy them. This is a place where they won’t crash into other objects and a place where they are easily viewable by the audience. A flat ground works best. Some of the devices needed to launch a drone show include a GPS ground station, a WiFi router, and a controlling laptop.

Pre-flight check

Before deploying the drones, you need to make sure all drones are working as expected, make sure the batteries are fully charged, and ensure the weather is suitable for flying the drones. You also need to check if you’re authorized to fly in the airspace.

Deploying the drones

Once you find the best place for your drone show, the Drone Light Show Company software or any other software will assign the flight paths to each drone. That’s how you can be sure not to find two drones in one position. Better yet, DroneShow even has safety features to make the whole process effective and safe. For starters, it has a Geo-Fence that keeps the drones within a defined perimeter. 

If one drone happens to lose power and comes crashing to the ground, it will fall within this perimeter and not on the spectators. Secondly, there’s an interface that allows you to land one individual drone or all the drones in case of any issues. 

And lastly, there’s one drone pilot who can take control of the drones if the laptop or launching system fails. But if there are no issues, the drones will fly, execute the choreography, and land on their own.

Will drones replace fireworks?

Yes, it’s conceivable that drone light shows could replace fireworks shows. Drones have replaced other technologies in other sectors before now. For instance, drones replaced helicopters in filming, they replaced airplanes in aerial photography and surveillance, and they’ve even replaced delivery vehicles in some industries. 

As a result, we can expect that they may replace fireworks too. Below are some reasons why drones may be better than fireworks.

They’re reusable

While fireworks create some of the best patterns in the skies and form the main part of New Year’s Eve and other celebrations, they come at a great cost since you can’t reuse them. On the other hand, once the drones complete the show, they’ll land, and you can use them to display the same show or program a different pattern. Unless they crash, which rarely happens, you can expect to use the same drones over and over again for some time.

Drones are quiet! 

Fireworks are known to emit an explosive sound that doesn’t sit well with pets or people who live close by and would prefer sleeping rather than listening to the fireworks. And let’s not forget that explosive noises may be bad for veterans or people with PTSD from explosive noises.

But the only noise a drone emits is from the propellers. Also, the drones are often flying at 150 feet above the ground and in a designated perimeter. It’s easy to sleep through a drone light show. If you hate fireworks, I think drone light shows will make you change your mind.

They’re customizable

There isn’t much you can do in terms of variety with fireworks. Sure, you can make them print out some names and some patterns, but drones are a game changer. We’ve seen space stations, rovers, deer, Star Wars animations, globes, baseballs, logos, and many other patterns printed in the skies. 

As mentioned earlier, anything you can create using 3D software can be executed in a drone light show. 

Drones are safer

Fireworks are quite risky. There have been cases where they explode too close to residential areas, causing fires. For instance, in 2018, fireworks caused 1900 structure fires, 17,100 outside fires, 46 injuries, and more than $100 million in damage. 

That makes you wonder if fireworks are even worth it if they can cause this much damage. With this in mind, people have been trying to look for safer methods to celebrate, and drones have become a viable option. But how safe are they?

Drone light shows are cheaper

In most cases, running a drone light show is cheaper than a fireworks show. You can find small drones and build a small drone light show yourself. Better yet, there are companies with ready-made drones offering such services. 

Fireworks can be pretty costly, considering the setup costs and the risks involved. And the best thing about drone light shows is they’re accommodating; more people will be happy, there’s less noise, and you can’t really put a price on putting a smile on more faces. 

This may not be a suitable price for a small business, but there are smaller startups offering lower prices for small drone shows. I’ll mention a few later in the article.

How many drones are needed for a show?

The number of drones needed for a show can range from 10 to hundreds or thousands depending on your budget, the size of the audience, the space available to execute the show, and the choreography. 

For a local drone show, you should bring together at least 50 drones. But as mentioned, the Olympics, mall openings, and other shows with a large audience can use up to 5,000 drones. 

The future of fireworks

For all that drones are making waves in the light show industry, fireworks are not necessarily out on their ear quite yet. Some changes are taking place in the fireworks industry, which could help make it more viable. Below are the main ones.

• Daytime Fireworks – One major challenge of using both drones and regular fireworks is they work best at night. But there’s a growing demand for daytime fireworks, and they’re now a thing. 

• 3D Choreographed Fireworks – It’s now possible to display a choreographed fireworks show by designing 3D animations and simulating how the fireworks are executed, as well as the speed of the wind to make sure the choreography is successful.

Let’s not forget that some people still prefer the loud explosions of fireworks. If drones don’t phase out fireworks completely, we may begin to see event organizers combining both of these technologies.

Conclusion 

The next time you see various formations across the sky, don’t mistake them for communication from extraterrestrial intelligence. They could be hundreds or thousands of drones designed to form all sorts of shapes and sizes. The Drone Light Show Company is able to handle all sizes of shows for your next event.