Intel, best known for making processor, has unveiled a new drone—the Shooting Star, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed specifically for light shows in the night sky.
“With this drone, we will be able to demonstrate that drone light shows can redefine entertainment and create amazing new experiences in the night sky,” said Anil Nanduri, Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of UAV Group.
Each Shooting Star drone weighs 280g and is packed with built-in LED lights. The company claims that the drones are capable to create more than 4 billion colour combinations.
The Shooting Star can be controlled by a single computer and can travel up 35kms/hr. The drone also includes propeller cages and geofencing, to ensure safety and security.
This isn't the first time when Intel has tried working on drone technology. In 2015 the company put 100 drones in the sky and recently in early October an individual pilot flew 500 Shooting Star drones simultaneously, setting a new Guinness World Record. The fleet of 500 drones showed up in Munich, Germany, and a similar fleet is expected to take place in US as well in the near future.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of US new commercial drone rule (Part 107) prohibits this kind of application. However, Intel has received a waiver to fly these drones as a fleet with one pilot at night in the US.
“A fleet of these drones need to have special permission, so we have worked with FAA to show that we can operate this in a safe way. It's been designed in a way where two people can operate it by themselves. Why two people? Because we need one person for backup,” said Nanduri.
Intel recently acquired two German-based drone companies, namely MaVinci GmbH and Ascending Technologies, who expertise in flight planning software algorithms and also fixed-wing drone design capabilities.
You can also watch the video of Intel’s record breaking flight of 500 drones lighting up the sky.
