It’s not just athletes who are making world records at the Winter Olympics! A unique, spectacular and exceptional record was also made there.
Millions of people watched the remarkable opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea on Friday, February 9th and were left awed by the airborne snowboarder, a bird flapping its wings, and the iconic Olympic Rings light up the skies. While they may have appeared to be digital fireworks, the enthralling show was the result of thousands of tiny drones that were programmed in advance to follow complicated flight paths to form the shape-shifting images.
The drones, created by US semiconductor manufacturer Intel Corp.,have featured in some earlier shows too. They were first introduced in 2015 in a stunning light show synchronized to the sounds of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. In addition to impressing the audience, the seven-minute spectacle, recorded over the Ahrenlohe Airfield near Hamburg, Germany, featured 100 drones, setting a new Guinness World Record for the Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously. In November 2016, the technology giant did it again, this time, with a fleet of 500 re-designed lightweight drones. Dubbed Shooting Stars, they were controlled by one person using a single computer.
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But none of these shows compared to what the audience and million sof people worldwide got to experience in South Korea. This involved an astonishing 1,218 Shooting Star drones. While the record-breaking light show appeared to be live to television viewers, it had been pre-recorded over the Olympic Stadium in December. Intel officials said they did not want to risk flying the large number of quadcopters over the thousands of spectators and athletes present at the opening ceremony. They had, however, originally planned to launch a reduced version of the show, featuring 300 drones, at the live event. Unfortunately, it had to be cancelled at the last minute due to an impromptu logistical change. But what the company did create was another world record for the most UAVs airborne at the same time.
Designed specifically for light shows, the Shooting Star drones are made from flexible plastic and foam and weigh a mere 330 grams, slightly more than a volleyball. They can stay airborne for 5 – 8 minutes and can create over 4 billion colour combinations through their built-in LED lights. Programmed using the company’s proprietary algorithms, the entire fleet can be controlled by one person using a single laptop. Unlike traditional fireworks shows, the battery-powered quadcopters do not pollute the air also!