The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards honor innovators with a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading, and promoting safe adoption of uncrewed systems, and developing programs that use these technologies to save lives and improve the human condition.
This year's program included nine categories to celebrate XCELLENCE in Academic Research, XCELLENCE in Innovation, XCELLENCE in Mission, XCELLENCE in Operations, XCELLENCE in Technology, and XCELLENCE in Workforce Development.
Each year the winners of the AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards are announced and celebrated at XPONENTIAL!
2023 Winners
AUVSI is proud to present the winners for the sixth annual AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards. The awards recognize the accomplishments of companies, organizations and individuals with a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading and promoting safe adoption of uncrewed systems, and developing programs that use these technologies to save lives and improve the human condition. The winners were announced during XPONENTIAL on May 9, 2023 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO on the Innovation Theater stage from 1:00 - 2:00 PM MT.
XCELLENCE IN Mission
Humanitarian
- ArroTech, Rapid and Accurate Autonomous UXO Detection
- MissionGO, Inc., Operation Healing Eagle Feather
- The David McAntony Gibson Foundation (GlobalMedic), GlobalMedic RescUAV Response to La Soufrière Volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Public Safety
- DRONERESPONDERS, DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance
- Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Department of Public Safety
- United States Forest Service, Testing and Scaling New Technologies for Operations and Safer Mixed Airspace Ops
XCELLENCE in Academic Research
- First Place: University of Colorado Boulder, 20 Years of UAS Research XCELLENCE
- Second Place: Virginia Tech's Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, Robert Briggs
- Third Place: Ocean Alliance, Tagging Whales with Drones
XCELLENCE in Innovation
- First Place: Skydio, Skydio Dock, Automated Inspections of Sites with Autonomous, Remote Drone Operations
- Second Place: Plus, PlusDrive, An Industry-defining Driver-in, Highly Automated Driving (HAD) Solution
- Third Place: Sentera, Eliminating Stitching with the Sentera DGR System
XCELLENCE IN OPERATIONS
Enterprise Application
- First Place: JobsOhio and the Ohio Department of Transportation, Propelling AAM in Ohio
- Second Place: Advanced Navigation, Cloud Ground Control
- Third Place: City of Pendleton, Pendleton UAS Range
XCELLENCE IN TECHNOLOGY
Enabling Components & Peripherals
- First Place: infiniDome, infiniDome’s GPSdome2
- Second Place: Elsight, Elsight Halo
- Third Place: MatrixSpace, MatrixSpace Networked Radar
Hardware & Systems Design
- First Place: D-Fend Solutions, EnforceAir
- Second Place: Advanced Navigation, Hydrus
- Third Place: Connect Tech, Anvil Embedded System with NVIDIA® Jetson AGX Orin™
Software Design and Coding
- First Place: BlueSpace.ai, Scalable and Explainable AI for Autonomy, powered by 4D Predictive Perception
- Second Place: Skydio, Skydio Scout, Situational Awareness for Moving Convoys
- Third Place: AlarisPro, Inc., AlarisPro Safety Ecosystem (ASE) - Advancing UAS Reliability Through Shared Data Across UAS Operators and Manufacturers
XCELLENCE in Workforce Development
- First Place: Laurel Ridge Community College, Laurels Take Flight
- Second Place: DroneUp, with partner, Richard Bland College, Established the First Commercial Drone Workforce Training Program for College Credit
- Third Place: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide and Warren College, Better Together: Producing Effective Educational Opportunities for the UAS Workforce