On Wednesday night, 100 drones took to the sky to perform a synchronized “ballet” to live music played by the Sydney Youth Orchestra.After a coordinated ascent to 105 meters, the 100 LED-equipped quadrocopters performed a series of intricate formations, creating three-dimensional figures above the water at Sydney harbor.The spectacular seven-minute light show, created by Ars Electronica Futurelab for Intel, is a technical feat with each drone following a pre-programmed flight path with dynamic aerial formations. The performance, which plays on colors and layering, has been created especially for Sydney, and makes great use of its location and backdrop for example with the drones forming the Sydney Opera House’s instantly recognizable shape.With many people viewing from vantage points around the harbor and from boats, Natalie Cheung, Intel’s drone product manager, points out the spectacle has been created to be seen from a 360-degree perspective, with a selection of different symbols that would connect with an international audience, while also teasing out viewers’ imagination by leaving some patterns open to interpretation. In February, the chip manufacturer acquired Ascending Technologies, a German drone maker that produces different types of drones, including the “Hummingbird,” used for the Sydney performance, and ahead of the first show Cheung said, “We want to expand people’s mindset about what they can be used for. Beyond delivery and inspection, we also want to show you can combine this technology with art to create new forms of entertainment.”The drones use Intel’s RealSense technology, which Cheung explained, allows for a degree of self-navigation using camera sensors to help avoid collisions. Each drone’s pre-programed path had been tested extensively to follow its global positioning system and ‘RealSense’ allows each drone to “understand” how far away each one is from the others and automatically correct, for example, if a gust of wind blows them off their set path.While this is the second time Intel has put together a Drone 100 performance — the first having taken place in a Hamburg football field in front of a private audience — it is the first time the show is being performed live in front of the general public, and Cheung points out, “it’s also the first time it’s done above water.” The drones are launched from two barges within an exclusion zone that keeps boats that gather to see the spectacle at a safe distance and the entire swarm is under the control of one pilot with an additional four pilots also allocated a squadron in case of difficulties.Beyond creating a unique spectacle, the technology on display demonstrates large numbers of drones can be safely coordinated simultaneously, which could have useful applications such as scanning and mapping of large areas.The seven-minute show will run nightly starting at 7:55 p.m., weather permitting, through June 12.
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