China made its debut this week at the world’s largest robotics trade show when a Shenzhen-based firm showcased its F50, a small UAS with a high-definition video camera that a company brochure billed as a tool for monitoring protests, or responding to building fires.
The appearance of AEE Technology Co.’s relatively small, short-range UAS—in the market underscores the burgeoning international competition in the market for unmanned aircraft and military robots.
State-run and private Chinese companies have invested heavily in recent years in developing UAS both for export and for China’s military and domestic security needs. But AEE’s information brochure—which shows an overhead image of protesters hemmed in by riot police, as well as a building on fire—suggests a similarly strong interest in domestic security.
Photo : Charlie Shoemaker for The Wall Street Journal
AEE was the first Chinese company to exhibit its wares at Unmanned Systems North America, an annual exposition in Washington that features robotic hardware from around the world. In a small booth on the edge of the showroom floor, Wendy Wei, the firm’s overseas sales department manager, said the company was looking to drum up international sales—and potential orders from military and police customers.
“We had a customer yesterday who wants to use it to survey ground for the mining industry,” she said. “Anywhere you need someone to do detecting or you need to take videos in a place that human beings cannot go you can use it, so it’s a huge market actually.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal