Xponential 2021 Showcasing the latest in uncrewed flight
This year, Xponential began under a cloud—literally. As the 2021 in-person installment of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) flagship show began in Atlanta, Georgia, the remnants of Hurricane Fred were passing over the city, bringing heavy rains and blustery weather. It was a real storm, but also an apt metaphor for what the drone industry—and the world—have experienced over the past 18 months.
When COVID-19 arrived in the United States in March 2020, it led to the immediate shutdown of trade shows and industry meetings. Many, including Xponential, moved to online formats, but these were only shadows of their pre-pandemic selves. With the arrival of safe and effective vaccines against the virus in early 2021, the industry looked forward to a better year ahead.
Following the collapse of the long-running InterDrone show originally scheduled the week prior, Xponential was the first out of the gate, holding its live event August 16-19. In reality, it was the second half of the show, the first half having been held online in May—closer to its traditional early-spring date. The in-person event was different from previous years, but revealed an industry anxious to meet in person and eager to share the technological innovations that have emerged from a year in isolation.
The View from the Top
On the eve of the show, AUVSI CEO and President Brian Wynne offered his assessment: “Any time we get our community together it’s always action-packed, it’s always valuable, and it’s always a lot of fun. It’s not going to be as big as it usually is, this year. We’re without our international visitors for the most part—people are staying away for a variety of reasons, and we don’t hold that against them, but we’re going to have a substantial number of people here—and they are very excited to be here.”
The excitement he described was palpable, with attendees enthusiastically greeting each other like long-lost friends in the hallways, even before the show officially opened.
Wynne went on to say that 18 months of social distancing had given the autonomous systems industry the opportunity to shine.
“During this time, our technology has really shown its strength, for unfortunate reasons,” he said. “People had to be at a social distance, but we also needed our supply chains to be more robust. This time of COVID really played to our technology’s strengths—and we’ve got tremendous momentum right now. We want to take advantage of that momentum.”
Key to that effort, according to Wynne, is effective advocacy for the industry with regulators, legislators and the public at large. While Wynne describes himself as “fronting the band,” he admitted that he and the rest of AUVSI’s staff are not the only effective advocates for the uncrewed systems community.
“We have a very robust grassroots program developing, and there is nothing more important than the message being local,” he said. “We have our
