More Than 300 Shooting Star Drones Took To The Night Sky

The 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival took fans into the future when 300 synchronized Shooting Star drones illuminated the night sky above center stage.

A crowd of more than 100,000 Coachella concertgoers saw history in the making when 300 Intel Shooting Star drones colored the night sky. The dancing drones took the shape of a ferris wheel, then a rotating windmill, palm trees and other colorful 3D animated objects.

Social media lit up with comments like “OMG they were drones” and “So we weren’t hallucinating!”

“There’s a drone show happening @coachella and I’m freaking out,” tweeted LA Times writer Gerrick D. Kennedy.

YouTuber JoanJetsetter wrote, “Insane surprise drone show at Coachella! Yes, the robots are here, and they are coming for us.”

Presented by HP, the Intel-powered drone light show first appeared at Coachella after indie pop band The xx finished its set, just before Radiohead took the stage. The drones flew again behind the main stage before Lady Gaga’s performance on Saturday.

“Coachella is two weekends full of different kinds of music, abstract art and the latest technology, making it the perfect event for drone light shows,” said Natalie Cheung, general manager of Intel drone light shows.

Intel designed the drones, animation and music, and worked with festival director Bill Fold and Golden Voice to prepare for the two weekends of Coachella. The new technology demonstration at Coachella was historic because it was the largest audience to witness a live performance of the Intel drone light show so far.

Nearly a year prior to the Coachella performance, the Intel drone light show flew over the neighboring desert city of Indio. It was the first time Intel was permitted by the FAA to fly 100 drones synchronously in U.S. airspace. It showed that safety regulations can allow for the use of multiple drones to entertain public audiences. The FAA has authority over the use of airspace and categorizes Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones as actual aircraft. As a result, drone pilots must follow FAA airspace regulations just like any other aircraft pilot. A different subset of rules govern commercial use of drones, called Part 107, a waiver obtained by the Intel team.

“Based on several factors and proven safety mitigations we have in place, we are allowed to fly up to 400 feet above ground level, fly multiple drones per pilot and fly at night,” said Intel Shooting Star fleet pilot Clay Coleman.

Coachella planners worked with Intel to integrate the drone light show into the festival schedule. Test flights at Indio helped the planning process but the team still faced last-minute challenges, including high winds. But, according to software engineer Tobi Gurdan, each time the drones perform, the team learns and improves.

“We came a long way since the Super Bowl show because our algorithms are more powerful and easy to use,” said Gurdan.

“At Coachella, the whole show is synchronized to music by the beat, and we included exploding spheres in sparkling colors. But rather than the lights fading out, they come to a halt and suddenly implode back again. Fireworks certainly can’t do that.”

(Image provided by the Zeno Group)

FMI: Intel Blog