A system and a method for displaying a light show is disclosed herein. The system comprises a plurality of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) having a screening medium reservoir attached thereto. A Ground Control Station (GCS) is communicatively coupled to the plurality of UAVs, wherein the communication between the GCS and the plurality of UAVs is bidirectional communication, and wherein the GCS is configured to control the plurality of UAVs in accordance with at least one flight program. A light controller is communicatively coupled to the GCS and configured to control at least one light source in accordance with the at least one flight program.

A show-ride system includes a first moveable component configured to couple with and support a show structure; a second moveable component configured to couple with and support the show structure; and a manipulator of the first moveable component, wherein the manipulator transfers the show structure from the first movable component to the second moveable component. The show-ride system also includes detection circuitry to determine an initial position of the first moveable component and an initial position of the second moveable component. The show-ride system also includes a positional controller configured to determine adjustments to the initial position of the first moveable component and/or the initial position of the second moveable component and provide instructions regarding the adjustments to the first moveable component and/or the second moveable component for a transfer of the show structure while the first moveable component, the second moveable component, or both are in motion.

Present implementations can display 3D illuminations using Flying Light Specks (FLS). Each FLS can include a miniature (hundreds of micrometers) sized drone with one or more light sources to generate colors and textures with adjustable brightness. The FLS can be network enabled with a processor and local storage. Synchronized swarms of cooperating FLSs can render static and motion illumination of virtual objects in a pre-specified 3D volume, an FLS display. Present implementations can consider the limited flight time of an FLS on a fully charged battery and the duration of time to charge the FLS battery. Present implementations can accommodate failure of FLS as a norm of operation, rather than an exception. A hardware and software architectures for an FLS-display can compute flight paths of FLSs for illumination. With motion illuminations, one technique can minimize overall distance traveled by the FLSs significantly.

Methods and apparatus to create and perform drone displays are disclosed. An example drone display may include a first set of drones having a first drone type, and a second set of drones having a second drone type. A flight controller at each drone may provide commands to drone hardware through an abstraction layer, where the commands from the flight controller are common across different drone types and the abstraction layer translates the commands to drone-specific signals based on a configured drone type. A central management system may provide flight paths to the different sets of drones in a common format across different drone types, and may control multiple different types of drones using the common format.

A ride system may include a track including uneven terrain, a plurality of ride vehicles positioned on the track, and a fleet controller (e.g., a wayside controller). The ride vehicles may be adapted to traverse the uneven terrain, such as along a respective chosen path of multiple paths based on respective user control. The user control may be configured to select the chosen path and adjust a speed and a direction of the ride vehicle along the chosen path. The fleet controller may provide an override control of the ride vehicles along the track based on the chosen path, the speed, and the direction of the ride vehicles. The fleet controller may define a default position and pacing for the ride vehicles. The user control may be configured to adjust the position and pacing of an associated ride vehicle from the default position and pacing, respectively.