I am part of a panel discussion at the Air Law Institute in San Diego today, discussing the state of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). From large UAVs that are flying with the big commercial jets to small UAVs used for photography, search and rescue, utility inspections and more, this is an industry that is literally taking off. The only limitations are those placed on development by government bureaucrats.
Making this amazing UAV video, because it is a commercial venture, could be considered against the law in the USA. This was produced and created by Cirque du Soleil and ETH Zurich, and Verity Studios in Switzerland. These autonomous (meaning they are flying independently) UAVs show the already amazing control that these flying machines have developed. There were no computer generated images used in this video. These are the real thing — UAVs dancing as they are programmed to do.
SPARKED: A Live Interaction Between Humans and Quadcopters
An article at Robohub.org provides a glimpse of the technology necessary to bring this kind of film to fruition. And, to move forward in the UAV world.
Here, in spite of their computer-controlled precision flights, the flying machines become robot actors that are individuals with their own personalities: Pomponette, with her tassels bustling in the propellers’ airflow; the Medusa with its bizarre tentacles waving in the wind; the Runt, sleek and fast but still glowing and twitching from the electric shock. And Lady Purple, absent from most of the film because of her intractable aerodynamics.
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I have no doubt that this level of confidence and comfort with the technology can in no small part be attributed to the system’s reliability. In spite of the packed shooting schedule (a total of 40 shots over two days) and the high complexity of the project (for example, designing lighting conditions using more than 60 light sources including some moving through space), production went smoothly, and importantly for the quadrocopter team, the flying machines did not add any significant delay. Battery swaps and on-the-spot changes to the choreography were efficient and quick, never exceeding a few minutes. Kudos to the excellent film team from who’s mcqueen for brilliantly doing their part to keep the production on schedule.
A look behind the technology and creativity in this video of dancing UAVs.
Travelers United is working in Washington, DC, to create a vision of the future for the FAA and to encourage the FAA to develop its own vision. Change will only come when the government releases innovators to do their work in this fascinating field that will be amazingly important for consumers in the future.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
