A few of you know about the project I've been working on, but now I can share it with everyone.
For over a decade I've been a contractor for Kiteman Productions. They build large entertainment kites pulled by Waverunners for entertainment purposes. There is a driver and a pilot that sits facing backwards to fly the kite. Since it is being pulled we don't need wind.
About a year ago I was contacted by them to design the LED lighting for the largest project they have ever done. Disney is closing the night time show at EPCOT called Reflections of Earth. They are replacing it with a short filler show called EPCOT Forever. This will give Disney time to remove the old Reflections of Earth equipment and install the new equipment for the new big show. They haven't revealed the name yet. EPCOT Forever is expected to run 8 months.
So, my job was to outfit intelligent LED's into (72) 6 ft kites with tail varying from 70-90 ft long and (14) 8 ft kites with 2 pennant tails 72 ft long. We ordered over 25000 LED modules that have 2 LED's each. The LED's are controlled via wireless DMX and powered using a LiPo battery. Each kite will launch from a barge in the EPCOT lagoon and land in the water every night. Everything must be waterproof. FYI after 30 years of pyro being dropped into the lagoon it has some very unique corrosive properties. This was a major challenge and still is. Oh and the kites have pyrotechnics on them too that is remotely triggered.
I have been working 7 days a week since Sept 2 and many days were 12-18 hrs long. This is a labor of love.
The show opened 10/1.
Here is the link to the show if you want to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXGENzdg29U
The kites start at 14:09 and again at 18:19
Chris