Aerial advertising uses a variety of different mechanisms to create messages in the sky. For example, blimps, flying banners, and skywriting are some examples of ads in the sky or aerial advertising. To make these ads possible, planes are usually used. However, recently, drones are also being used for aerial advertising.

The technology that makes many of these ads in the sky possible requires some type of programming. For example, digital skywriting, or skytyping, uses computer programming to send commands to the device that ejects the smoke from the plane. Many times the programmer sending the commands is creating the message in the sky that a customer wants. Customers can write their message or figures on paper, which is a much smaller version of what they want to see in the sky. It is the computer program’s job to enlarge that message for the sky.

To simulate this experience, students will create code to command a drone to enlarge a figure. The goal is for the drawing to be an exact replica of a figure drawn on paper, but at a larger scale.