A drone show operator is building a landing system that lets hundreds of drones take off, land, and recharge without a single human touching them. Current drone shows rely on manual processes for almost every step—analysis of over 900 process steps found dozens of critical failure points, all run by human operators. This makes shows expensive, risky, and limited in scale. The global drone show market is already worth $4 billion and is forecast to grow to over $12 billion by 2033, but first-generation technology was never designed for swarms. HVN Labs, formed in April 2024, is developing a fully autonomous system. This project, in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory, builds a prototype that gives drones precise navigational corrections during final approach and landing. The system sits inside a fly-in-fly-out landing case that also handles charging and diagnostics. If successful, the technology could cut costs and safety risks enough to make drone shows routine rather than bespoke spectacles. HVN expects revenues of more than £50 million within five years, and the system could become the standard for automated drone swarm operations worldwide.
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The growth of the drone show market has led to a $4bn global industry with hundreds of shows taking place across the world, and millions of people enjoying the spectacle of 1000s of drones taking part in coordinated displays. The industry is forecast to grow rapidly to over $12bn by 2033, growing at up to 25% per year. Existing first-generation drone show technology is highly resource intensive, using technology not originally designed for drone swarms. Two years of analysis of over 900 process steps showed almost all were carried out by human operators, with dozens of critical points of failure. Dependency on manual processes for design and operational delivery leads to increased safety risks, high costs and limited functionality. Formed in April 2024, HVN Labs is spearheading the development of next-generation drone show technology. HVN's ultimate goal is to create a fully autonomous system that requires no human involvement. Key to HVN's automated solution is a fly-in-fly-out landing case which provides automated drone take-off and landing, with in-case charging and diagnostics. This project will develop a prototype system providing precise navigational corrections to the drones during final approach and landing. This is a collaboration between HVN and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), a world-leading analysis and test organisation. The NPL's expertise will greatly assist HVN in obtaining a compact, reliable and safe landing drone landing system for drone light shows and give HVN the potential to become the world's leading drone swarm operator and leading to revenues of more than £50m within five years.
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