UAV'08 - 2008 UAV Conference

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UAV'08

International Symposium on

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

June 23-25, 2008Caribe Royale Resort and Conventon CenterOrlando, Florida

Welcome to UAV'08, the International Symposium on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

UAV’08, federated with CAD'08, is not just another conference; its main focus is on information exchange, sharing of experiences, observations, as well as difficulties among scientists, engineers, researchers and practitioners dealing with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).

As such, the main objective of UAV'08 is to bring together different groups of qualified representatives from academia, industry, the private sector, government agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Armed Forces, funding agencies, state and local authorities to discuss the current state of UAS advances, the anticipated roadmap to their full utilization in military and civilian domains, but also present current obstacles, barriers, bottlenecks and limitations to flying autonomously in civilian space. Of paramount importance is to define needed steps to integrate UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS). Therefore, UAS risk analysis assessment, safety, airworthiness, definition of target levels of safety, desired fatality rates and certification issues are central to the Symposium objectives.

It is expected that during the Symposium, focused interests of diverse groups involved in UAS research and development will be presented and discussed, priorities will be ranked and challenges will be defined, with the expectation to identify projects of common interest, and key milestones that need be achieved towards wide acceptance and applicability of UAS related cutting edge and ‘to be certified’ technologies.

After the Symposium, and in addition to the CD-ROM Proceedings, a 'book document' will be published that will include specific recommendations and procedures to overcome existing barriers and limitations, facilitating wider use of UAVs. The Symposium will be a three-day, single track event, with half-day devoted to a workshop like panel discussion on "Current and Future Opportunities in UAS Technologies".

"Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children -

are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings."

- Walt Disney