Weekly News from AUVSI XPONENTIAL: Buzz, New Product Reveals, and Recipients of the XCELLENECE Award
The AUVSI's 2021 XPONENTIAL conference, held this week in Atlanta, Georgia, showcased a multitude of groundbreaking drone technologies. The event, which celebrates the best in the unmanned systems industry, recognised several outstanding projects and solutions with the XCELLENCE awards.
In the Enabling Components & Peripherals category, Botlink won 2nd place for its Botlink XRD2, while Sagetech Avionics took 1st place with its MX12B Micro IFF Transponder. Hesai Technology claimed 3rd place with its PandarXT-32.
Meanwhile, in the Software Design & Coding category, Exyn Technologies secured 1st place for its ExynAI: Omni-platform Software with Level 4 Autonomy, SkyGrid, a Boeing, SparkCognition Company, took 3rd place with its SkyGrid Flight Control, and Aloft.io and Connect Tech Inc. earned 2nd place for their respective Aloft Air Control and Rudi-AGX Embedded System. Anemoment also introduced a 3D sonic anemometer for drones, the TriSonicaTM Sphere Wind Flux Sensor, designed for atmospheric flux and turbulence research.
The Humanitarian Project or Program category saw the UMD UAS Test Site and the Nepal Flying Labs project receive XCELLENCE awards for their Human Organ Transplant Delivery UAS program and Drones Optimized Therapy Systems, respectively. WildTrack also received an award for its Footprint Identification Technique (FIT). UVL Robotics, Inc. won 1st place in this category for its Inventory Drones.
In the Public Safety category, DRONERESPONDERS, Verity, and the Chula Vista Police Department received XCELLENCE awards for their DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance, Failsafe by Verity, and Drone as a First Responder (DFR) Program, respectively.
The Enterprise Solutions Deployment and Service Provider category saw UVL Robotics, Inc. and PABLO AIR Co., Ltd take 1st and 2nd place, respectively, for their Inventory Drones and PAMNet (Pablo Air Mobility Network). Volansi claimed 3rd place for its Critical Cold-chain Medical Logistics Drone Delivery in North Carolina.
The Hardware & Systems Design category was won by the Embry-Riddle RobotX Team for its Embry-Riddle Maritime RobotX Autonomous Vessel System. SBG SYSTEMS took 3rd place with its Ellipse-D, and Kongsberg Geospatial Iris created a system that allows one drone pilot to fly several Flirtey's Eagle drones at the same time Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) for deliveries.
Finally, the XCELLENCE in Mission award was given to organisations using drones for public safety and humanitarian work, although the specific winners for this category at the 2021 conference are not currently available.
The XCELLENCE award winners for innovation, operations, technology, and mission were announced at the conference, with Skydio winning 1st place in the XCELLENCE in Innovation category for its Skydio 3D Scan. American Robotics and Robotic Research took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, for their American Robotics Scout System and Pegasus Mini.
Notable demonstrations at the event included a presentation by the Flyability team of its Elios 2 indoor drone for confined space inspections at a brewery hosted by AUVSI. Northwest UAV and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory also unveiled a hydrogen fuel cell prototype for unmanned systems.
The AUVSI's 2021 XPONENTIAL conference was a testament to the rapid advancements in drone technology and the innovative solutions being developed to address various industries' needs. As the industry continues to grow and evolve, it's exciting to see what the future holds for unmanned systems.
[1] It's worth noting that the search results do not provide specific information about the winners of the XCELLENCE awards in the Mission category for humanitarian projects and public safety at AUVSI's 2021 XPONENTIAL conference. For such detailed information, you might need to look at the official AUVSI website or archived news from 2021. However, Auterion was announced as a finalist for the AUVSI XCELLENCE awards in 2025, but the results do not mention the 2021 winners or specifics about the Mission category for humanitarian projects and public safety.
[3] This fact is based on the context that the last category of the XCELLENCE award encompasses UAV work related to drones for good.
- The AUVSI's 2021 XPONENTIAL conference, held this week in Atlanta, Georgia, showcased a multitude of groundbreaking drone technologies, including the Botlink XRD2, MX12B Micro IFF Transponder, and PandarXT-32 in the Enabling Components & Peripherals category.
- In the Software Design & Coding category, ExynAI: Omni-platform Software with Level 4 Autonomy, SkyGrid Flight Control, Aloft Air Control, Rudi-AGX Embedded System, and the TriSonicaTM Sphere Wind Flux Sensor were showcased.
- The Humanitarian Project or Program category saw the UMD UAS Test Site, Nepal Flying Labs project, UVL Robotics, UMD Organ Transplant Delivery UAS program, Drones Optimized Therapy Systems, WildTrack Footprint Identification Technique (FIT), and Drones as a First Responder (DFR) Program being recognized.
- In the Public Safety category, DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance, Failsafe by Verity, Drone as a First Responder (DFR) Program, and the Chula Vista Police Department's DFR Program were honored for their significant contributions.
- The Enterprise Solutions Deployment and Service Provider category saw awards given to UVL Robotics, PABLO AIR Co., Ltd, PAMNet (Pablo Air Mobility Network), and Critical Cold-chain Medical Logistics Drone Delivery in North Carolina.
- The Hardware & Systems Design category was won by the Embry-Riddle RobotX Team for its Embry-Riddle Maritime RobotX Autonomous Vessel System, SBG SYSTEMS' Ellipse-D, and Kongsberg Geospatial Iris for its multi-drone BVLOS flight control system.
