Robot Light Show!

That’s why in recent years, some communities have switched to drone shows. They have been especially popular in western cities, like Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The high-tech performances have some advantages over fireworks, says engineer Christopher Franzwa. His company makes technology for drone shows.

Because drones aren’t meant to explode, they don’t typically cause fires. Drones also don’t pollute the air or water. And they don’t make loud sounds that disturb people and animals. “Drones are quiet,” says Franzwa. 

In addition, drones can do things that fireworks can’t. They can shift from one shape to another. They can even create messages like “Happy Birthday!” “Drones allow us to paint the night with things people haven’t seen before,” says Franzwa.

It takes a lot of planning to put on a drone show. Designers use computer programs to turn the pictures they want to form into a set of pixels. Each of these small, lighted dots represents one drone. This helps designers figure out how many drones they need for each image in the sky. Depending on the complexity of the image, it could take a dozen or hundreds!

During showtime, people control the drones from the ground. The drones contain Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. These help keep the drones in the right spot in the sky. 

Drone shows are not just for patriotic images on July 4th. They have been used at other celebrations, forming everything from astronauts to jellyfish. If you were to create a drone show, what would you make?