AUVSI won't be slowing down once the Unmanned Systems North America 2010 is over.

The association is furthering its move into advocacy for unmanned systems by continuing its cooperation with the Congressional UAV Caucus, making appearances before Congress and participating in roundtable discussions. The Congressional UAV Caucus's next event is on September 22, when it will sponsor a technology fair to be held in the foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building. AUVSI will assist with the event and will coordinate meetings between association members and members of Congress and their staffs.

The association will also continue to meet with key stakeholders involved in safely integrating unmanned aircraft into civil airspace, including individuals from the Federal Aviation Administration, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Department of Defense and NASA.

"We've strengthened our advocacy efforts in the last two years and have made progress in raising awareness and influencing decision-makers about the critical issues surrounding civil airspace access in the United States," says Executive Vice President Gretchen West. "Our next step is to work with our affiliates in Australia and Canada and our members abroad to make this a global effort. We have also begun to advocate for ground and maritime unmanned systems and are now building strong campaigns to support the efforts of those important communities."

AUVSI is also launching new endeavors to broaden the utility of unmanned systems, including the Transportation Technology Transfer Initiative (T3I), aimed at sharing technology between the military and civil transportation industry to create safer, more efficient automobiles and other ground vehicles. T3I picks up the work previously handled by the Intelligent Vehicle Technology Transfer project, which since 2003 has been sponsored by various federal agencies, including DARPA.

By creating T3I, AUVSI will facilitate technology-sharing between the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, among other stakeholders, to push for smarter vehicles and more intelligent roadways. These collaborative efforts could lead to a day when cars drive their owners to work, using intelligent highways to help plan the best route.

Also in the civil/commercial realm, AUVSI is partnering with the US Forest Service and the Naval Postgraduate School to sponsor a Fire Fighting Table Top Exercise 2010 at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, September 27-30. The second in AUVSI's Fire Fighting TTX series, the Utah event will include controlled airspace and controlled burns, so that participants can demonstrate how their systems can be useful in fighting fires. More information is available on the AUVSI website under Events.

Early next year, AUVSI will host AUVSI's Unmanned Systems Program Review 2011 in Washington, D.C. The annual event brings together government and industry leaders to talk about unmanned systems across the air, ground and maritime domains and is an invaluable look at the year ahead. AUVSI's Unmanned Systems Program Review 2011 is scheduled for February 1-3.

"AUVSI has seen tremendous growth over the last year and we have truly lived up to the statement that we are the largest organization representing the unmanned systems community," said AUVSI President & CEO Michael Toscano. "We look forward to even more growth in future years as we strive to create valuable services to our membership and the industry as a whole."

Source: Flight Daily News

Topics