Shooting Star (drone)

The Shooting Star is a quadcopter drone designed for light shows by Intel. It is constructed of polystyrene and lightweight plastics; and it has built-in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for display purposes.^[1] Large numbers of Shooting Star drones can be controlled by a single computer and operator that can create more than four billion color combinations from the built-in LEDs, with the system's algorithms controlling the choreography and optimizing the flight paths.^[1] In 2022, Intel sold the division to Nova Sky Stories.^[2]

Use

In November 2016, 500 of the drones were used in a light show to set the new Guinness World Record for the "Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously".^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

The drones were used for the Super Bowl LI halftime show performance by Lady Gaga in 2017, in which 300 Shooting Stars formed an American flag in the sky.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]} Because of the tight regulations during the show and establishment of a no-drone flight zone, the drone show was recorded beforehand.

Josh Walden of Intel's New Technologies Group stated that one possible application of the technology is to use large numbers of drones to perform a visual inspection much more quickly than a single unit.^[1]

During Art Basel Miami Beach 2017 Intel worked together with Studio Drift and BMW with a performative artwork with a flying swarm of 300 drones^[14]

1,218 of these drones were used for the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, which became the largest drone show in the history of the world.^[15]

References

1. Gagliordi, Natalie. "Intel's Shooting Star light show drones make US debut". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
2. "Intel Drone Light Shows bought by Elon's brother Kimbal Musk and Nova Sky Stories". DroneXL.co. 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
3. "Intel launches 500 drones into sky and breaks world record in spectacular style". Guinness World Records. 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
4. "Intel christens its Shooting Star drone with record-breaking light show". New Atlas. 8 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
5. McSweeney, Kelly. "500 Intel drones dance in the night sky". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
6. "Intel gives fireworks a run for their money with a 500-drone 'shooting star' show". Digital Trends. 7 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
7. "Intel Lights Up the Night with 500 'Shooting Star' Drones". Intel. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
8. "Drone expert explains how Lady Gaga's 300 Super Bowl halftime flyers worked". CBC News. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
9. Barrett, Brian. "All About Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Halftime Show Drones". Wired. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
10. Perez, Chris (February 6, 2017). "This is what 300 drones flying in sync looks like". New York Post. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
11. "Yes, those were drones at Lady Gaga's Super Bowl 51 halftime show". For The Win. February 6, 2017. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
12. TV. "Lady Gaga's Super Bowl LI Halftime Show Drones Have a Bright Future". Wired. Archived from the original on 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
13. "Super Bowl LI: How Lady Gaga's Drones Worked". Time. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-02-06. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
14. "a flying sculpture by Studio Drift in partnership with BMW is a performative artwork at the interface between technology, science, and art". Archived from the original on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
15. "Inside the Olympics Opening Ceremony World-Record Drone Show". WIRED. Archived from the original on 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2018-02-09.

External links

• Intel website on Shooting Star light shows
• Nova Sky Stories