Unmanned vehicle show makes a capital appearance

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Conference and Show held in Washington DC, with emphasis on unmanned vehicles or service robots and their application on the ground, in the air and in the water.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews with exhibitors of unmanned vehicles and the providers of the technologies which are fundamental to their design and deployment.

Findings

The unmanned vehicle industry is largely driven by government requirements, both military and civilian. Unmanned service robots are also found in applications such as crop monitoring and fish school location at sea. Unmanned vehicles are getting smaller, smarter and more rugged to meet new challenges.

Originality/value

Unmanned vehicles continue to address air, ground and marine application needs where human safety is important. The vehicles continue to become more and more autonomous, smaller and ever better to address a wider range of application requirements.

Citation

Bloss, R. (2012), "Unmanned vehicle show makes a capital appearance", Industrial Robot, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 226-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/01439911211217035