Intel Believes Drones are Their Next Computing Platform

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Intel Shooting Stars

Intel’s leaders believe drones are an important computing platform for the future—and they hold a new Guinness World Record to prove it.

They set the new record for having The Most UAVs Airborne Simultaneously with 500 drones lighting up the night sky. They outdid their previous record of 100 drones in-flight simultaneously in less than a year.

Yet the World Record may not be as high flying as an even more important record: these were all Intel-built and Intel-branded drones. Yes, it’s "Intel Outside" this time...

In October, Intel announced their first Intel-branded commercial multirotor drone – the Intel Falcon 8+ System [shown in photo below] with complete flight system redundancies built in.

Recently they announced their expanded capabilities in the drone sector with their acquisition of MAVinci GmbH – a private fixed-wing company with best-in-class flight planning software.

But Intel isn’t stopping there.

Now Intel announce their first Intel drone designed specifically for light shows: the Intel Shooting Star drone. With this drone, they can demonstrate that drone light shows can redefine entertainment and create amazing new experiences in the night sky.

Intel Shooting Stars

Designed to be lightweight, the Intel Shooting Star drone is composed of a Styrofoam body and plastics and weighs in at just 280 grams, or less than the weight of a volleyball. The purpose-built quadcopter show drone is also equipped with LED lights that can create over 4 billion color combinations and easily be programmed for any animation. With the improved software and interface, a light show can now be done in a matter of days, instead of weeks or months. Additionally, all 300 Intel Shooting Star drones can easily be controlled by one comptuer.

In fact, Intel and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are already collaborating on an innovative new holiday experience that will take place at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida over the holiday season. Using all-new Intel Shooting Star drones, the Starbright Holidays – An Intel Collaboration show will paint colorful images across the sky at the Disney Springs shopping, dining and entertainment district.

Starbright Holidays – An Intel Collaboration marks the first time a show-drone performance of this scale has ever been performed in the United States. It will feature 300 Intel Shooting Star drones in a choreographed aerial performance set to holiday-themed music. The show also marks the U.S. public debut of the Intel Shooting Star drone – a new type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specifically designed for entertainment purposes such as festivals, air and light shows.

Intel’s commitment to drones should send a message to all of us. The drone has a new role in entertainment (an industry that we serve) but the new Intel Falcon 8+ System will soon demonstrate that almost every industry has a need for commercial drones. And almost every drone will require video and video processing—and a tech supplier knowledgeable enough to make the video fly (and play it back with analysis).

Go Intel on Drones