AUVSI XCELLENCE awards honoring drone innovation open

The Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International is now accepting entries for its annual XCELLENCE awards. The awards are meant to “honor organizations and individuals in the unmanned systems industry that demonstrate a commitment to advancing the technology, promoting safe adoption, and using unmanned systems to save lives and improve the human condition.”

The awards, now in their fourth year, have quickly become a fixture. They’re a high-profile way of acknowledging some of the incredible work taking place in the field of unmanned systems – and the incredible people behind it. As the organization states, “The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards are given to recognize new, creative, and innovative ways of using unmanned systems to make our world better, safer, and more productive. This includes new products, solutions, technology, projects, or other advances in unmanned systems technology and applications.”

There are eight categories.

AUVSI XCELLENCE categories

The eight different categories fall under four broader topic areas. We’re going to copy the specific categories directly from the AUVSI contest page.

1. XCELLENCE in Operations

• Enterprise Deployment OR Enterprise Adopter — Organizations with pilot programs or enterprise integrations which highlight the  opportunity and potential for using unmanned systems in an industry or sector.
• Enabling Service OR Enterprise Solutions Provider — Organizations or professionals using unmanned systems to deliver value-add services to a customer(s), including remote pilots, inspections, training and education, data collection and analysis, insurance, legal, etc.

2. XCELLENCE in Technology

• Hardware & Systems Design — Unmanned or automated air, ground or maritime platforms or vehicles.
• Enabling Components & Peripherals — Sensors, processors, payloads, components, or other physical subsystems that support or enhance the capabilities of an unmanned or automated platform.
• Software Design & Coding — Programming, interface, mobile app, data management, and analysis tools, or other software-based solutions that support or enhance the capabilities of an unmanned or automated platform.

These are widely recognized awards.

3. XCELLENCE in Innovation

• Xcellence in Innovation — Recognizing organizations whose innovation boldly advances unmanned and automated systems toward the next phase of capabilities and expanded operations.

4. XCELLENCE in Mission: Recognizing organizations and individuals who use unmanned and autonomous systems to save lives and improve the human condition. FREE to Enter!

• Humanitarian — Recognizing organizations and/or individuals who have made a significant impact using unmanned or autonomous systems to promote human welfare, provide relief, and better the world.
• Public Safety — Recognizing public safety organizations and/or individuals who have made a significant impact using unmanned or autonomous systems technology as to save lives, protect our communities, and improve the safety of our first responders.

How to enter

Fill out an entry form on this page. There’s an entry fee for all categories with the exception of the Humanitarian and Public Safety XCELLENCE awards. You don’t have to be an AUVSI member to participate, though entry fees are lower for those with memberships.

More questions? You’ll find a pretty comprehensive FAQ page here.

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