Intel enters Guinness Book of World Records with 100-drone swarm

By Kelly Hodgkins Published January 12, 2016

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich opened the 2016 CES technology trade show in Las Vegas with a keynote that set the drone world on fire. The company showcased its cutting-edge drone technology, demoing its new obstacle-aware consumer drone and showing footage of its world record-setting drone swarm. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Intel’s spectacular 100-drone flight has earned the company a new world record title for Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously.

Intel may have mentioned the world record drone swarm for the first time during its recent keynote, but the actual flight took place last year at Flugplatz Ahrenlohe, Tornesch, Germany. Intel worked with Ars Electronica Futurelab, a center for multidisciplinary research and development in Austria, on the project. The display was designed to showcase the advances in drone technology and the potential of the UAV industry. Intel has been active in the drone industry, investing $60m in drone-maker Yuneec and recently acquiring German drone firm Ascending Technologies

Recommended Videos

Dubbed the “Drone 100” because it featured 100 drones flying in a fireworks-inspired formation, the swarm was controlled by an operator on the ground who was using Intel software on a PC. The drones lit up the night sky while a small orchestra played Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The drones flew in sync with the music, simulating a Fourth of July fireworks display in an application of technology that Krzanich said could someday replace actual fireworks.

Intel may be the current world record holder for simultaneous drone flight, but it is not the only drone swarm to make headlines. Last year, a team of researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California stunned drone fans with their 50-drone swarm. The drone formation was controlled by a single operator using custom hobby-made drones with a Wi-Fi connection to help coordinate their flight.

Former Contributor

Kelly's been writing online for ten years, working at Gizmodo, TUAW, and BGR among others. Living near the White Mountains of…

Topics

Emerging Tech

Anti-surveillance clothing is getting cheaper, but don’t expect an invisibility cloak

Affordable shirts now claim to confuse facial recognition, although their protection depends heavily on the camera and software watching you

Chart, Plot, Adult

Anti-surveillance clothing is starting to look less like an art-school experiment and more like something you could actually wear outside. Shirts designed to confuse facial recognition systems now cost about as much as ordinary streetwear, although buying one won’t make you disappear.

The Guardian reports that designers are using face-like prints, unusual cuts and infrared lights to interfere with computer vision. These techniques target specific weaknesses, so their success depends on what happens to be watching you.

Emerging Tech

This spinning drone hides in plain sight using a visual illusion

This drone doesn't turn invisible. It tricks your brain into thinking it has.

Phantom Twist

For decades, engineers have chased the dream of an invisible drone. The usual approaches have involved transparent materials, camouflage coatings, or complex optical systems that bend light around an object. Researchers at Northwestern University decided to take a completely different route. Instead of hiding the drone itself, they chose to fool the human eye.

The result is Phantom Twist, an experimental drone that spins so rapidly it almost disappears into the background. It's not technically invisible, but to anyone watching, it looks more like a faint blur than a flying machine.

Emerging Tech

This smart knitted fabric can flip switches, count your steps, and even change shape

Grandma's knitting just entered its Iron Man era

Representative Image

For most of us, knitting brings to mind sweaters, scarves, and perhaps an ambitious grandmother determined to make winter more fashionable. Researchers at Harvard University, however, have a far more futuristic vision. They've transformed ordinary knitted fabric into a programmable material capable of changing shape, acting as an electrical switch, sensing movement, and potentially forming the foundation of tomorrow's wearable technology.

The research, published in Advanced Functional Materials by scientists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), demonstrates how machine-knitted textiles can "snap" between multiple stable shapes without relying on motors or rigid mechanical parts.