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 that 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.
“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.”
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