Robotics Revolution: Denver expo highlights unmanned & robotic innovations

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Staying with robotics. The annual Xponential underway in Denver, Colorado, is being called one of the largest trade shows for unmanned systems, drones and robotics. CGTN's Hendrik Sybrandy looks at some of the latest trends on display at the exhibition.

On the rooftop of the Colorado Convention Center, Canada's Aeryon Labs shows off its SkyRanger R-60, an unmanned aerial vehicle whose on-board cameras provide operators with almost X-ray vision.

RICHARD CUNHA, PRODUCT MANAGER AERYON "You can search for individuals or surveillance on vehicles, that sort of thing, from say a thousand feet away. Use the daytime camera to see things like clothing and movement as well as the infrared camera to search for heat signatures."

These eyes in the sky have become force multipliers for public safety agencies that carry out search and rescue operations, fight fires and accident reconstruction.

RICHARD CUNHA, PRODUCT MANAGER AERYON "There's a huge demand."

As there is for unmanned systems of all kinds, according to the organizer of Xponential, a show that recently gathered a host of drones, robots and sea and land-based autonomous technology in one spot.

BRIAN WYNNE, CEO ASSOCIATION FOR UNMANNED VEHICLE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL "There's a reason why we use the word Xponential. It's advancing very, very quickly."

Brian Wynne, the C.E.O. of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International says software and hardware in this field are advancing rapidly.

BRIAN WYNNE, CEO ASSOCIATION FOR UNMANNED VEHICLE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL "It's getting smaller, it's getting faster. You see that in the capability of the vehicles that are here and also the data that gets collected and how that data can actually be analyzed."

For example, the Chinese firm Zenitech has developed a hand-launched vehicle it claims can stay in the air twice as long as its competitors.

SHAOYANG ZHOU, GENERAL MANAGER ZENITECH TECHNOLOGIES "The endurance and the weight of payload, it's basically two key points of future development of UAV's."

United Aircraft Technology's unmanned helicopter, also built in China, will carry heavy payloads for long distances as it performs a variety of roles.

XIAOMING WANG, SALES DIRECTOR UNITED AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY "First responder, national disaster relief and geographic mapping for the oil and gas industries. There's tons of ways."

HENDRIK SYBRANDY DENVER Drones, in some ways, have gone mainstream. Customers see them as much cheaper and more effective tools for surveying than helicopters. The public has also begun to buy in.

BRIAN WYNNE, CEO ASSOCIATION FOR UNMANNED VEHICLE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL "I think it's getting people to understand we've been automating things for a long time. This is in some ways the next step."

RICHARD CUNHA, PRODUCT MANAGER AERYON "It's sort of like any new technology. It takes a little while for people to figure out how to use it."

Aeryon's Richard Cunha says new advances in artificial intelligence will only make these systems smarter in the future, allowing those who employ them to concentrate on their other tasks at hand.

RICHARD CUNHA, PRODUCT MANAGER AERYON "They're using them as a tool, not their entire focus or reason for being."

Wynne estimates the air portion of the unmanned industry will create $83 billion in global economic value in the next decade. Its evolution, this revolution, shows no signs of stopping. Hendrik Sybrandy, CGTN, Denver.