High above the water, two human figures appear, made from points of light. The drones also form a mountain landscape with a round moon overhead. These are not projections: every point is a separate drone that must reach the right place at the right time.
China’s EHang develops dedicated show drones and their control system. The company says one system can coordinate more than 20,000 drones. What makes the result striking is how those separate aircraft form a recognisable animation: movement and light are coordinated in advance.
From animation to thousands of flight paths
A drone show begins on a computer. Designers create shapes and arrange their movements on a timeline. Software turns that design into individual flight plans: each drone receives its own route and instructions for the colour of its light.
Show-drone manufacturer Verge Aero describes this process in its guide to drone shows. The software also calculates transitions between shapes and checks routes for collision risks. The complete show is sent to the drones before take-off. They do not improvise the picture in flight.
Imagine a point of light that first belongs to a hand and then becomes part of a mountain. Its drone must reach the new position on time, while all the others reach theirs. A good final image is only part of the challenge: the journeys between images must work too.
How does a drone know exactly where it is?
EHang uses RTK-GNSS: satellite navigation supplemented by correction data. Ordinary satellite positioning can be metres off. With RTK, a fixed ground station helps the aircraft determine their position much more accurately. EHang claims accuracy down to centimetres.
Timing matters as well. As Verge Aero explains in its technical overview, satellite navigation supplies accurate time as well as position. This lets drones start their flight plans almost simultaneously. In flight, the control system compares each drone’s actual position with where it should be at that moment and adjusts as needed.
That is how the figures hold together: the drones follow the same timeline while each aircraft tracks its own position. Their lights change colour at the planned moments.
The show ends with a planned landing
The current show drone on EHang’s product page weighs 650 grams, according to the manufacturer. Its stated show speed is 6 metres per second — roughly 22 kilometres per hour — with endurance of up to 45 minutes. Those specifications describe the product offered, rather than measurements of the drones in this footage.
EHang describes automatic operation from take-off to return, with fault detection, backup sensors and redundant communication links. The general workflow described by Verge Aero also includes individual return paths and staggered landings. Ground operations are as much a part of the show as the figures above.
The audience sees people and landscapes in the sky. Behind them is a pre-designed animation performed by thousands of flying lights. The combination of shape, colour and precisely timed movement makes the pictures so remarkable.
