An unmanned or uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft piloted without a human, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller and a system of communications with the UAV. The flight of UAVs may operate under remote control by a human operator or with various degrees of autonomy.
Robotics involves the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help, replicate, or assist humans. Certain robots require user input to operate while other robots function autonomously.
Technologies and applications include but are not limited to:
- Military
- Aerial photography
- Product deliveries
- Agriculture
- Policing and surveillance
- Infrastructure inspections
- Science and research
Regional Companies & Organizations
- Drone, Automation & Robotics Technology (DART) (Santa Cruz)
- DroneCamp (University of California)
- Insight Up Solutions (La Selva Beach)
- Parallel Flight (La Selva Beach)
- Joby Aviation (Marina)
- NavalX Tech Bridges (Naval Postgraduate School)
- CRUSER Consortium (Naval Postgraduate School)
- Joint Interagency Field Experimentation (Naval Postgraduate School)
- University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (University of California)
- Institute for Innovation & Economic Development (CSUMB)
- Startup Monterey Bay (CSUMB)
- Western Growers Innovation Center (Salinas)
- ZeroAvia (Hollister)