TYLER, TX — FIRST iZ has been named as a 2nd place winner in the Technology and Innovation: Hardware-Platform category of the XCELLENCE Awards by the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI). FIRST iZ was selected from a pool of accomplished applicants. Winners will be announced during the Technology Innovation XCELLENCE awards ceremony during AUVSI XPONENTIAL on Tuesday, October 6.
The product submitted for the contest was FIRST PortTM, a rugged, weather-protected, remotely operated “smart” enclosure, which offers the ability to provide autonomous deployment, data gathering, and secure storage of a small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV), or drone. The port employs sensors which can assess the health and welfare of its airframe, coordinates precise launch and landing, and offers a patent-pending contact charging solution between missions. The port is drone agnostic, able to accommodate many current and future sUAV designs. This port/drone solution can be utilized in a number of industries, including emergency response. UAVs are charged, monitored, and kept protected in strategic locations around the service area (police station, fire station, 911 center), then deployed remotely by dispatchers, sending visuals and detecting hazardous gases from the incident scene before the arrival of first responders.
“The rapid growth of the unmanned systems industry is reshaping our future by expanding business markets, providing consumers with innovative solutions and even saving lives," said Brian Wynne, president and CEO of AUVSI. "The XCELLENCE awards recognize companies and individuals who are achieving remarkable results with unmanned systems technology to benefit our communities.”
XPONENTIAL offers a broad-based and balanced educational program brimming with cutting-edge content and inspirational insights, ranging from policy implications and technical challenges to use cases and best practices across vertical markets and everything in between. The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards honor innovators with a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading and promoting safe adoption of unmanned systems and developing programs that use these technologies to save lives and improve the human condition.
“It is such an honor to recognized for Technology and Innovation at AUVSI, “FIRST iZ founder, Phil Burks added, “The FIRST Port team deserves all the credit and more. From a sketch drawn out on a napkin over a year ago, and lots of design, innovation, testing, and late nights later, we are excited to see FIRST Port working even better than we imagined.”
As the unmanned systems industry’s largest trade show and conference, XPONENTIAL offers a broad-based and balanced educational program brimming with cutting-edge content and inspirational insights, ranging from policy implications and technical challenges to use cases and best practices across vertical markets and everything in between. For more information about the AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards and XPONENTIAL, visit xponential.org
About FIRST iZ
FIRST iZ is a Phirst Technologies, LLC company. FIRST iZ and its manufacturing partners are proudly based in the United States of America. For more information, visit firstiz.com.
About AUVSI
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)—the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems and robotics—represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in industry, government and academia. AUVSI members work in the defense, civil and commercial markets. For more information, visit AUVSI.org.
About XPONENTIAL
AUVSI XPONENTIAL is the largest, most significant event for the unmanned systems industry. The 2020 virtual event will showcase hundreds of cutting-edge companies from around the world and will feature educational programming by unmanned systems experts, providing information about the future of policy, technology and business solutions.
