AUVSI XPONENTIAL is the largest international conference for unmanned systems and robotics.
Technology innovations in unmanned vehicle systems have been racing ahead, and commercial applications have recently “taken off” as aviation and maritime regulations become more user friendly. These and many other topics were discussed during AUVSI’s Xponential in Dallas, Texas May 8th-11th.
NOAA UAS Program Director, Robbie Hood, began the week speaking at the AIAA/AUVSI Third Workshop on Civilian Applications of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CAUAS-3) which brought professional communities together to focus on the current civilian applications of UAS. The CAUAS-3 also examined lessons learned during the Public Decade (2008-2017), and looked forward to define the Civil Decade (2017-2026). Some of the key questions that were addressed included:
- What is the current state of civilian applications of UAS?
- What are lessons learned from the Public Decade to be applied in the Civil Decade?
- What are the critical technologies and regulatory environment that must be in place in 5 years, 10 years?
- What are the roles of stakeholders in the Industry, Agency, and Academic communities to ensure U.S. leadership in the Civil Decade and beyond?
Stakeholder feedback was collected during this ½-day event to help UAS manufacturers, operators, policy makers, and regulators begin to shape what the group proposed will be the “Civil Decade”.
Robbie also updated the government agency session with her brief, Assessing UAS Observing Strategies for NOAA Earth Observations.
John “JC Coffey hosted a session on the imaging advancements with UAS which included presentations on:
- Using UAS for Bridge Surveys
- Using UAS for Wildlife Imaging
- Using Pro-sumer Drones for Professional Mapping and Engineering Work.
