Paint by Drone

Italian design firm Carlo Ratti Associati has developed Paint by Drone, a portable technological solution that employs drone formations to draw on urban facades.

Carlo Ratti Associati has developed Paint by Drone, a portable technological solution that employs drone formations to draw on urban facades. The project aims to turn any blank vertical surface into a space for both participatory artistic expression and the visualization of urban data. The first two installations of Paint by Drone are planned for fall 2017 in Berlin, Germany, and Turin, Italy.

Carlo Ratti Associati, Paint by Drone, 2017
Carlo Ratti Associati, Paint by Drone, diagram
Carlo Ratti Associati, Paint by Drone, diagram

  Paint by Drone employs a set of one-meter wide UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), each of them equipped with sensors and carrying a spray paint tank. Each drone paints with CMYK as in most traditional printing processes.
A central management system regulates the drones’ operations in real-time, from image painting to flight, using an advanced monitoring system that precisely tracks the UAV’s position, detecting multiple devices simultaneously. Drones can draw content submitted digitally, via an app.

Carlo Ratti Associati, Paint by Drone, 2017


Paint by Drone
Design: Carlo Ratti Associati
Design team: Carlo Ratti, Saverio Panata, Antonio Atripaldi, Monika Löve, Andrea Galli, Gary di Silvio, Gianluca Zimbardi
Year: 2017