Drones That Dance: How Hundreds of Drones Fly Together
Have you ever seen a drone light show? Hundreds of tiny flying robots zoom into the sky and make shapes — a flying butterfly, a shooting star, even a giant dinosaur! One famous show by Intel used 2,018 drones at the same time to set a world record. How do they all fly together without bumping into each other? Let's find out!
What You Will Learn
In this lesson you will learn: - What a drone dance show is - How drones know exactly where to go in the sky - How computers help many drones fly safely together - Some cool words that drone engineers use
What Is a Drone Dance Show?
A drone dance show is when many drones fly together and make pictures or patterns in the sky. Each drone has bright LED lights on it. When they move in patterns, it looks like a big glowing picture or animation up above. You might see drone shows at the Olympics, in big movies, or at celebrations. They are like fireworks — but reusable and much quieter! Each drone in a show is about the size of a dinner plate and weighs less than a bag of sugar.
How Do Drones Know Where to Go?
Before the show, a choreographer — that is the show's designer — plans exactly where every drone should be at every second of the performance. A computer turns this plan into special instructions for each individual drone. Drones use GPS to know where they are. GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It uses signals from satellites in space to figure out the drone's exact spot in the sky. Each drone constantly checks: am I in the right place? If it drifts a little, it corrects itself automatically. Drones also talk to a ground computer many times every second to stay perfectly on track.
GPS satellites orbit Earth about 20,000 kilometers up in space. A tiny drone weighing less than a bag of sugar can use those faraway space signals to know exactly where it is — down to about 30 centimeters! That is why drones in shows can fly so close together without crashing.
How Computers Keep Drones Safe
A big computer on the ground sends instructions to all the drones at the same time. It uses special radio signals — a bit like the Wi-Fi in your home, but much more precise. The computer watches every single drone at the same time. If one drone has a problem — like a low battery — the computer can tell it to land safely right away. Drones are also programmed to never get closer than a safe distance from each other. This safety boundary is called a geofence — like an invisible fence in the air. If a drone drifts too close to another one, its onboard computer automatically moves it away!
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
How do drones in a light show know exactly where to fly?
What is a geofence in a drone show?
Design Your Own Drone Light Show
You are the choreographer! Design your own drone light show. Step 1: Decide how many drones you will use. Pick a number between 10 and 20. Step 2: Draw a grid on your paper — 5 squares across and 5 squares down. Each square is one spot in the sky. Step 3: Pick a shape you want to make — a star, a heart, a rocket, your initials, or your own invention! Step 4: Color in the squares that form your shape. Each colored square is where one drone goes. Step 5: Give your show a name and draw what the audience on the ground would see looking up! Bonus Challenge: Can you plan TWO shapes? Draw arrows showing how the drones would move from the first shape to the second. What would it look like in the sky?
Want to keep learning?
Sign up for free to access the full curriculum — all subjects, all ages.
Start Learning Free