A drone searchlight capable of illuminating a large area has been demonstrated in the US
The Flying Sun drone has nearly three hundred LEDs built into it, producing up to 300,000 lumens.
Sometimes the light from regular flashlights isn’t enough, and installing a full-fledged spotlight requires a lot of body movement. That’s why Freefly Systems, a Washington-based company, developed the Flying Sun 1000 system, which can light up a field using just one drone. Essentially, the enthusiasts simply took an existing Alta X copter and literally bolted 288 LEDs onto it.
The heavy aircraft is designed to lift a payload of up to 15 kg, and its two 16 Ah lithium batteries are capable of 20-50 minutes of flight, depending on the weight. This allowed Freefly Systems engineers to attach four 72-LED panels to the quadcopter, pointing straight down — a total of 288 lamps with a power of 300,000 lumens.
As stated by the creators of the Flying Sun 1000 system, a spotlight with a 60-degree viewing angle can illuminate an even larger area depending on the height of the drone. Thus, at 96 meters, the beam radius reaches 12,728 square meters. And at 30.5 meters — only 1,301 square meters. At the same time, the intensity of the lighting changes, so that you can create both a “UFO beam” and a moonlight effect.
The only serious drawback of the system is that the LEDs consume energy very quickly. So, enthusiasts added a tether cable to the kit, which allows you to directly power the quadcopter from a portable generator, an electric car, or any other power source. At the same time, the system can also operate solely from the Alta X drone battery, but for no more than 10 minutes.
Cost of the Flying Sun
At the moment, the Flying Sun 1000 system is already available for pre-order through the official website of Freefly Systems, and the first deliveries are scheduled for June 2025. However, the price tag bites - one quadcopter will cost an insane $ 59,995. The product is definitely designed for commercial use.
