AUVSI promised and delivered! It held up to its billing as a premiere event chalk full of over 700 vendors, 8,000 attendees, and announcements galore.
Here’s a short summary of what we learned over the 4 days we attended.
Intel has its sights on taking market share with the biggest announcement to date about drones. They introduced Intel Insight, Mission Control and 3 new payloads for the Intel Falcon 8+. http://gpsworld.com/intel-shares-updates-on-insight-platform-drone-solutions-at-xponential-2018/.
There are also stories on Humanitarian efforts using drones http://gpsworld.com/humanitarians-using-life-saving-drones-honored-at-auvsi-xponential/
Some more cool stories about A buildathon/hackathon to conceive, design and build inventions during a timed competition prior to Xponential. Final projects were displayed on the Xponential show floor as a representation of innovation and collaboration.
A dedicated area in the Xponential exhibit hall for STEM education programs and services supported by AUVSI and the AUVSI Foundation to foster and cultivate the next generation of innovators and leaders. An area of the show floor showcased the winners of student robotics competitions.
The audience was diverse. Denver area high school students were invited and I saw many of them with “holy cow” looks as they toured the exhibit area to introduce them to emerging unmanned technologies and applications. A reception at the show mixed young professionals in unmanned systems with seasoned industry leaders, and finally, the Women and Diversity in Robotics forum featured speed networking with leaders to review STEM opportunities for career-focused women and girls.
My feet hurt and my brain exploded at what is coming at us in the next 10 years. Were you there? We would love to hear what you thought?
