The North Carolina Drone Summit and Flight Expo returned to Greensboro this week, bringing larger crowds and more hands-on experiences than before.
More than 500 people from around the world attended over three days, sharing their expertise and getting the chance to network with and learn from others in the drone industry. The summit featured a full schedule of flight demonstrations, informative talks, panel discussions and exhibitions.
The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation helps host the summit to showcase the present and future of the drone industry, and to promote safe usage of drones.
“Drones are the way of the future, and the NCDOT wants to help businesses, government agencies and others learn how they can use this emerging technology to further their missions,” said N.C. Board of Transportation Chairman Mike Fox. “This conference is our chance to come together and move the needle toward the future.”
This was the second year for the drone summit. Last year’s event attracted about 300 people to Greensboro. More people attended this year’s event, which featured a few new attractions. In addition to outdoor flight demonstrations, organizers this year added indoor technology demonstrations. The indoor demonstrations showcased cutting-edge hardware and software that improve data collection and analysis, mission planning and more. The UnmannedUp startup competition gave new drone businesses a chance to showcase their products, meet investors and compete for a space at next year’s summit. Also new this year, 50 students from North Carolina middle and high schools had an opportunity to see the exhibits and hear some of the speakers. Students attended a few sessions on how to get involved with drones, aerospace and other science and math-related fields.
