Intel's Shooting Star drones continue to hit new heights, with their latest outing culminating in yet another record for the computer hardware turned robotic pyrotechnics company. The record saw thousands of the tiny aircraft take to the air over California, arranging themselves in spectacular formations to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.
The Shooting Star drones first emerged in 2016, when the Intel set a Guinness World Record by having 100 of the unmanned aircraft fly in formation in tune to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. It has ramped things up pretty quickly from there, soon following that with a 500-strong effort later that year and then unleashing 1,218 drones in South Korea for the Olympics earlier this year.
These efforts are about more than just claiming a string of Guinness World Records. If you imagine the spectacle created by a huge fireworks show, and then imagine organizers could control their path through the air, that's the kind of capability offered by these LED-equipped drones, which are made from plastic and foam and weigh just 10 oz (283 g) apiece.
They have created Christmas trees over Disney World, a swirling backdrop for Lady Gaga's Superbowl halftime show and formed snowboarders and Olympic rings for the games in South Korea earlier this year.
The 2,018 drones used for Intel's 50th birthday celebrations took the shape of the company's logo and other spectacular shapes, setting yet another Guinness World Record in the process. You can see them take flight over its facility in Folsom, California, in the video below.
Source: Intel