The two-day event on February 24 and 25, 2012, though largely focused on unmanned aircraft system, had dedicated sessions on unmanned ground and underwater vehicles

Organised by the Aerona utical Development Establishment (ADE) Bangalore, an ISO 9001:2008 certified multidisciplinary organisation under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the second edition of International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (ICAUV 2012) was held at Eagleton Golf Resort, a picturesque locale on the outskirts of Bangalore. The two-day event on February 24 and 25, 2012, though largely focused on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), had dedicated sessions on unmanned ground and underwater vehicles.

As compared with the first edition of the conference held in April 2009, the number of participating nations this time round had gone up from eight to 15. In all there were around 400 participants from North and South America, Australia, Europe and Asia. The conference had four plenary sessions, six industry talks and 50 presentations on a range of subjects that covered every conceivable aspect of UAS. Participants from amongst the global aerospace majors included Northrop Grumman, a company that designed and built the Global Hawk, Raytheon which provided sensors and support equipment for the Hawk and Lockheed Martin whose Skunk Works has a range of futuristic projects on the anvil. Of special interest to the Indian Air Force (IAF) were the unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) under development that unfortunately is not available for offer to India on account of restrictions imposed by the Missile Technology Control Regime. A prototype of the UAV developed and flight tested by a team of students from Delhi Technological University with financial resources and support from Lockheed Martin, was displayed at the venue.

Notable amongst the speakers were Dr Siva S. Banda, Chief Scientist from US Air Force Research Laboratory who delivered the keynote address, system designers from Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Saab of Sweden, EADS (France and Germany), Directors from International Civil Aviation Organisation and representatives of European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment. The technical sessions deliberated upon aero propulsion systems, flight and mission control systems, avionics systems, structural systems, unmanned ground vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, mini and micro UAV systems, current and future trends as also operational experience with lessons drawn. Dedicated industry sessions were conducted on the second day to facilitate interaction and exploration of avenues for collaboration between DRDO and the global industry. Issues pertaining to the ongoing international programme related to certification of UAS and their integration in the air traffic management system in controlled civilian airspace and the imperative need for India to understand and actively participate in the formulation of regulatory procedures and practices. From the proceedings it was evident that despite the high level of automation already achieved, much work remained to be done in respect of technological advancement before unmanned aircraft can be integrated into civilian air traffic management system with the required degree of safety.