500 Intel Drones To Replace Fireworks Above Travis Air Force Base For Fourth of July (techcrunch.com)

The Fourth of July is a little different today at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif. From a report: Instead of fireworks, 500 Intel Shooting Star drones will take to the sky to perform an aerial routine in honor of the holiday and the base's 75th anniversary. These are the same drones that preformed at Disney World, the Super Bowl and the Olympics. One person controls the fleet of drones thanks to a sophisticated control platform that pre-plans the route of each drone. Intel engineers told me that the system can control an unlimited amount of drones. In the version I saw, the drones used GPS to stay in place and the drones lacked any collision detection sensors.

Comments

Nice Once, But Ultimately Boring

[Bruce Perens]

I saw the Intel drone show at Bellagio during CES, twice. It's nice to see for the first time, when one has never seen a drone show. But it's ultimately just 500 color LEDs in the sky and not nearly as visually exciting as a fireworks show. To have it in addition to fireworks makes sense. Replacing the fireworks show? There will be some disappointed kids.

Re:Perfect

[tlhIngan]

This perfectly sums up the modern american nanny state. Take away something we've enjoyed for generations, replace it with an amazingly crappy knockoff that's "safer" while destroying the entire spirit to the point where it's completely pointless.

And emphasize how great it is for a private company.

I don't know who will be watching these glorified LED throwies, but I'll be out watching fireworks tonight. At least as long as I still can in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

That would be true, if you're talking about the bumpkin fireworks display that you buy from the store.

No, the firework displays you talk of are professional done - and these have very strict rules on where they can launch, where they shoot up, and where the audience can be. These ones are also strictly controlled and permitted and do not generally have to abide by firework laws.

About the only complaint anyone has with them (excepting disasters) is the environmental impact of sending up all that black powder and heavy metals, usually seen as the huge cloud of smoke that accumulates and is visible midway through the show.

Those drone shows Intel puts on are in general alternatives.

Oh, and most fireworks companies are private as well. Though none is as big as Intel - most are family run. Some even have their own manufacturing facilities, but that generally requires a lot of work and is reserved for a few special ones they can't buy from China. (Seriously, the rules on manufacturing firework is pretty strict, meant to avoid explosions and other risks that can level a city block. Of course, China has no such provisions and well, yeah, accidents do happen).

Of course, tastes do change as well. I was never a fan of fireworks - the booms just never really did it for me, and although it was pretty, they were still limited in effect. 500 drones doing light draw animations can be more interesting.

POSTPONED

[Subgenius]

This drone show has been postponed until July 5th (for DOD card holders and families ONLY) due to high winds on the base today.

http://www.kcra.com/article/tr...

Re:Perfect

[mikael]

But at least it gives low performing employees something to do - oh not that kind of drone. I just imagined a Dilbert cartoon with the employees tied to weather balloons and made to wave glowsticks around.