ASU students get ready for dazzling drone display during football game

PHOENIX - Fans at the ASU football game on Sept. 23 will be treated to a dazzling display at halftime.

"It’s a pretty large-scale drone show," said ASU Associate Professor Ana Herruzo.

In just three months, ASU students, working under Herruzo, have crafted a full-blown drone production that will be unlike anything seen before in the Phoenix area.

"I think it will be very impressive," said Herruzo.

As planned, it's a dazzling display bursting with color and creativity, set to music, and showing off Sun Devil pride.

"These will be matching in color and tempo with the drone show in the sky," said one of the people involved in the project.

Wristbands worn by the marching band will glow along to the beat, electrifying the experience. Herruzo said students have been involved in the process, each step of the way.

"They’ve been doing storyboards and doing all the drawings," said Herruzo. "And then, they’ve been doing all the 3D models."

Students were also involved in the placement of each of the 600 drones hovering in the sky.

"We had a specific bounding box that we had to animate and design everything in," said one of the students.

ASU is also pairing up with a firm called Nova Sky Stories. The company is known for its stunning drone shows, like the one they created for Burning Man in 2022.

With hours left until the reveal, students say they can’t wait for the crowd’s eyes to light up.

"It’s going to be really amazing to see everything happen in the sky that night," said one of the students.