What you missed at Commercial UAV Expo

The fourth annual Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas spanned three days and featured dozens of exhibitors and guest speakers. Photo by Zach Mentz.

The fourth annual Commercial UAV Expo at the Westgate Resort in Las Vegas featured dozens of exhibitors displaying their latest technologies and keynote presentations over three days.

While the event featured drones that are applicable in a wide range of industries, including emergency response, civil infrastructure and agriculture, the mining and aggregate industry had its share of representation as well.

A mining and aggregate presentation on the final day of the show was hosted by Will Tompkinson of Insightful Dimensions and featured a panel including David Boardman of Stockpile Reports; Andrew Carey of Rio Tinto Kennecott/Utah Copper; and Todd Domney and Callum Walter of Sumac Geomatics.

Boardman predicted back in 2013 that “every square centimeter of an operation will be modeled accurately in 3-D every second of every day.” He revisited that prediction during this year’s presentation, reiterating his belief that this is still the case.

“Drones have sparked imagination and educated us about possibilities,” Boardman says.

Carey, speaking on the use of drones in the aggregate industry, noted the benefits of implementing this technology in the industry.

“Just the safety improvements alone are enough to justify this technology [in aggregate],” Carey says.