Shopping for a robot army: A day at the don’t-call-it-a-drone show | Ars Technica

Shopping for a robot army: A day at the don’t-call-it-a-drone show | Ars Technica: This week, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) took over Washington, DC's convention center for its annual Unmanned Systems show. Once mostly a government- and defense-focused event, the conference has ramped up in size and scope in anticipation of the Federal Aviation Administration's decision on how to "integrate" unmanned aircraft into civil airspace.

Among the thousands of companies hawking their wares at the event, there were representatives from some 25 teams of state and local authorities, each vying to make its region one of the coveted designated test locations that will be announced by the FAA in December. Some, like Oklahoma, had their own booths set up to draw support from unmanned system manufacturers.