Over 1000 Chinese drones swarmed and put on an aerial show

At the Global Fortune Forum in Guangzhou on December 7th, 1180 EHang drones danced and blinked out an aerial show for 9 minutes.

Each drone cost $1,500. Each drone had a datalink and control software. The over one thousand flying drones coordinate autonomously and synchronize movements, with a flight precision of 2 centimeters horizontally and 1 centimeter vertically. If something goes wrong and a drone can’t reach its programmed position, it automatically lands.

In fall 2017, the Chinese Academy of Sciences used high-altitude balloons to release two shoebox-sized, flying-wing drones that flew downward from a height of 15 miles. They flew a distance of more than 60 miles. Those high-altitude micro UAVs have passive sensors for detecting electromagnetic activity and can map terrain. The USA has Perdix system drone swarms. The US has released them from military jets.