Drone Drawing: Writing in the sky with a drone
A single drone, a customisable logo and a camera with a long exposure: As part of the ‘Technical Computer Science’ teaching project, bachelor's degree and master's degree students from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology – Sebastian Dauer, Leonard Deiß, Fabian Kramer, Karim Shousha, Niklas Sommerfeldt, Jakob Pau, Darian Knopp and Moritz Wall – developed and implemented a system that uses an autonomously flying drone to visualise any text as a trail of light.
At first glance, the idea sounds simple: a drone is used to write lettering in the sky. Unlike in a ‘drone show’, however, the text is not immediately visible during the flight. Instead, the drone’s flight path is captured by a camera using a long exposure. By precisely controlling LEDs, a trail of light is created, from which the desired lettering becomes clearly recognisable in the image.
From text entry to flight mission
To enable the drone to fly any desired lettering, the project team developed its own app. First, several waypoints are calculated from the individual letters of the text entered. These so-called ‘mission items’ are then combined into a flight mission and transmitted to the drone. During autonomous flight, the drone navigates to the specified waypoints independently. At the same time, the LEDs are switched on and off at the appropriate moments. This creates the individual lines and contours of the lettering as a trail of light in the long-exposure photograph.
The main technical challenge here was to precisely synchronise the drone’s flight path with the LED control system. Only when the position, timing and lighting are perfectly aligned will the lettering be clearly legible in the photograph.
More than just illuminated lettering
Unlike a car, a drone does not travel along a fixed road, but moves freely through three-dimensional airspace. A car can stop, turn round or adjust its route at any time. With a drone, however, changing external conditions such as wind must also be taken into account.
In addition, the drone was designed to fly autonomously. Consequently, no manual corrections were planned during the flight. To ensure the drone followed the planned route precisely, an RTK GPS module was used, which enables particularly accurate positioning of the drone. The route had to be planned in advance with such precision that the drone would reliably fly to every single waypoint and the lettering would be recognisable at the end as a continuous trail of light. Such reliable and precise route planning is also crucial for practical applications of autonomous drones, such as inspection and surveying flights, delivery operations or rescue missions, where drones must fly predefined routes safely and without ongoing manual control.
Safety considerations also had to be taken into account: no-fly zones and other airspace restrictions must not be breached. Furthermore, an A1/A3 drone pilot’s licence is required to operate the drone. For the final flight in Munich-Riem, the team also liaised with the City of Munich and obtained the necessary authorisation for the drone flight. Detailed planning of the flight mission is therefore crucial not only for the quality of the photograph, but also for ensuring the drone is operated safely and in compliance with regulations.
Project from the project launch
Drone Drawing was presented as part of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology ’s project launch event in the summer semester of 2026. The project was led by Dean Prof. Dr. Benjamin Kormann. The team was supported by Jens Halbig from Airbus Defence and Space, who, as a lecturer, provided technical and organisational support.
The event offers students the opportunity to present their projects to the public and to provide insights into current topics in electrical engineering and information technology.
The video was produced by the students.
The next project launch will take place on 21 January 2027 from 10 am to 1 pm at Hochschule München (Lothstraße 64).
Project video: Drone Drawing
Note: The video is only available in German.