a question about Drones.

just wondering how something like the amazing drone light show at the kings concert is done.
over a 1000 drones ( iirc ) created the show.

so would that be 1000 people each operating 1 drone, or is it a computerised thing, which flies the whole lot or multiple drones ??

very clever either way.

so would that be 1000 people each operating 1 drone, or is it a computerised thing, which flies the whole lot or multiple drones ??

There are no drones, they  just put something in the water that causes mass hallucinations

I’d imagine it’s all automated. A script if you will. Probably quite simple. Still amazing though.

All automated dude.

There was an interview with the guy who owns the company that put on the displays last night on R4 this morning. Only half heard, but each drone is programmed with its flight path and there is one operator per site to press ‘go’ at the right time. I think the company is called Sky Magic.

As above, these drones are built for the purpose of working as a series, and being able to be programmed to allow the hardware functions to be operated in unison, sequence, etc.

It’s all clever stuff, well until they become self aware and we end up having a 21st century sequel to the birds.

What are the rules for an individual flying a drone?

We were up on Clee Hill yesterday and a bloke was flying a little drone but his mate had a big one about 2-3-ft wide. It was really noisy and he was flying it about 15-20m above the road and over people walking up there.

I live in an upper floor flat, which I’ve always loved for the privacy, not having gits looking through your windows, being able to walk around bollock naked etc. Not anymore. There was one buzzing and hovering about five metres from my velux window recently.

Quite a bit to post https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/rules-and-categories-of-drone-flying/introduction-to-drone-flying-and-the-uk-rules/

That chap with the larger drone was taking a dump on most of the rules.

Blokes like him are one of the reasons the UK rules (rightly so) are strict. But they are hard to enforce, involves catching people in the act.

All depends on weight, over 250 grams and you need to get a Flyer ID and appropriate training, rules also follow weight and class, larger drones should have no fly zones of 50 metres from people, but reality is drones tend to be treated like e-scooters, everyone knows the operators don’t follow the rules, but nobody really cares.

We were up on Clee Hill yesterday and a bloke was flying a little drone but his mate had a big one about 2-3-ft wide. It was really noisy and he was flying it about 15-20m above the road and over people walking up there

So drones are defined by weight now. And your permissions to launch from the landowner, and you are not flying in airspace that has restrictions. Then there is your qualification as a remote pilot.

Under 250g (within reason) you can fly most places providing you launch in place where you’re allowed to.

Jumping above 250g and upwards – license requirements shoot up and the specifics do too along with R.A requirements. Flying over a road with traffic is never a smart move unless you have control of the situation.

Chances are the big drone chap was probably breaking the law if overflying traffic and people. You can do this legally but from what you describe sounds like a casual flight.

Overflying people is generally best avoided or minimised.

As a qualified pilot I always follow the rules. It’s simply not worth messing around if you’ve got a commercial interest.

But yes the rules have got so messy, and with lack of EU synchronisation on drone class things have become very difficult to do properly. The CAA is awful with rule changes and random requirements. It’s a mess. So if people do fly illegally and without safety measures in place – I get that too.

each drone is programmed with its flight path and there is one operator per site

Would have loved to have watched him trying to catch all of those when they were landing.

Drones are banned around the castle and Long Walk normally. I watched the rehearsal and they don’t look quite as impressive from the back 🤣. The police had a massive surveillance drone up for the funeral. Had a nice chat with the operator. It was an impressive piece of kit (about five feet across) with relayed images to operator and HQ. Over urban areas I believe flight paths must be logged with the CAA and flown by operators who are licensed.

@kayak23 I know you’re joking but the landing in the video is awesome.

Over urban areas I believe flight paths must be logged with the CAA and flown by operators who are licensed.

Not if the drone is sub 250g.

Over urban areas I believe flight paths must be logged with the CAA and flown by operators who are licensed.

No they don’t need logging with the CAA.

Flight logs are kept for yourself, automatically by the UAV. If you’re commercial when you annualy renew you need to supply the last 2 hours of logged flying in 3 months.

Urban Areas are mostly fine with <250g drones.

The rules have changed a lot in the last two years

There was one buzzing and hovering about five metres from my velux window recently.

What you need is a high lumen output flashlight, something around 3-4,000, and/or a decent output laser pointer. If it’s close enough, just catching the camera lens with the laser will fry the sensor, the flashlight will just make it impossible for the operator to see anything at all anyway.

Or you can get some mirrored film to cover the windows.

The company who put the show on are based less than a mile away from me. Can’t answer how it’s done, but I know budgets are big, they are very busy, and are my mates who work there are nerdy musicians and artists, slightly (very) bonkers but very clever

I was talking last week to a chap who uses a big one for surveying land raise tipping of stone, aggregate and topsoil on large developments. He was saying he could survey a site in an hour which would have taken two people a day. Ok a bit of work to do on the the desktop after with all the data but much cheaper and quicker. It was accurate to about 20mm thickness of stone.
The kit was worth mega bucks!

It’s all clever stuff, well until they become self aware and we end up having a 21st century sequel to the birds.

Closer than you think, there are already stealth drones using large dead birds…

CAA drone code updated recently, much to the outrage of many careful flyers.

https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/

The key bit is here;

You do not need to register if you’ll only use a drone or model aircraft that weighs below 250g and is a toy or does not have a camera.

So, if there’s a camera on it, the <250g exemption to registration does not apply any more. Any drone/quad with a camera (that’s not a toy, as in marketed to kids and bought in a toy shop and is under 250g) needs to be registered and the operator have an ID, to adhere to the strict letter of the law. The restrictions are less though, regards to flying near people and property, for <250g quads.

This means that being strict even a ‘TinyWhoop’ (weigh 20-30g and fit in the palm of your hand but with a low resolution onboard camera used to see where it’s going) could not legally be flown in your garden without registration and ID! Mad.

The FPV (first person view – quads flown through goggles) folk tend to invoke Rule #1, like a lot of us do when riding footpaths.

Yeah, I already have an Operator ID and the number is stuck to my <250g drone. It doesn’t restrict where I can fly it, so any “outrage” seems to be misplaced.