RPI celebrates 200 years with drone show

TROY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — World renowned Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute celebrated a huge milestone this Friday night with their Bicentennial Drone Show. Crowds of people watched as 750 drones were employed into the air, giving people quite the show, while honoring the past, the present and the future of the Troy Institute.

RPI’s 19 ^th President, Martin Schmidt said, “We feel like we’re gearing up for the next 200 years as we live through a quantum and AI Revolution.”

Thursday’s rain showers delayed the preview drone show but Friday it was all systems go. Taylor Woodall CEO of SKYWORX DRONE SHOWS said, “These drones came from, all the way from Puerto Rico and California just for this show.”

Nearly a dozen students volunteered to help set up and test the drones. Boya Wang a sophomore mechanical engineering said, “Right now we’re just inspecting all the drones for any sort of defect that may hinder their ability to perform tonight. And if they pass the test, we slot a battery in them.”

Hayden Heroux, a freshman, in computer science, said, “I heard about this gig through the school’s drone club, which just recently merged with some of the other aerospace clubs, so they put out an advertisement there. There was a drone show coming to town. We’d love for you to help. Period I signed up through handshake and now here I am working the show.”

All those drones will be flown by one pilot. “Today’s setup would be about 12 hours, but there’s also hundreds of design hours that go into this pilot coordination with our team., multiple meetings with the client. Hundreds of hours of lead time that show up for about a 15-minute show,” said Woodall.

All that planning paid off for the packed stadium who enjoyed the drone show and fireworks finale.

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