The sky as a canvas:the artistry and science of drone shows by Marcelo Duhalde

Drone shows are becoming an increasingly popular way for cities to celebrate events. As an alternative to traditional fireworks, they are much safer and eco-friendly. Furthermore, they are constantly growing in scale and spectacle. Just last October, 10,197 drones illuminated the night sky in celebration of China’s National Day. Drone shows seem like such a technological marvel; how does one even go about coordinating such a large number of drones? This piece seeks to demystify and explain the science and technology behind what makes drone shows work.

In particular, the drone show over in Hong Kong on China’s National Day was actually cancelled due to weather conditions. This might lead one to wonder about the safety and feasibility of such performances. This piece thus also goes on to explain about the logistics and preparation required for such a huge event to happen, as well as weather conditions that may affect different pieces of hardware and prevent the entire show from happening.

Overall, the aim was to increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of the science and artistry of drone shows, and have them think about whether they should embrace this new form of celebrating events.

From the initial research, it turns out that software plays a huge role in the initial design stage of a drone show. Namely, the show is first simulated within a 3D software. Hence, work was put into actually learning and understanding the software - putting the author in the shoes of a drone show designer.

In fact, designing a drone show is really just designing a 3D graphic, and this is something that with some work, can also be done on the web. Hence, you view the visuals of this piece as the team trying to simulate our own drone show right inside a web article.