Pros and Hobbyists Alike Pile In To Small UAV Market
Flying cameras and a plethora of designs drive the small UAV market.
The AV Sparrow from Torquing Group.
The AV Sparrow from Torquing Group.

Consumer electronics manufacturers, former toy and hobby suppliers, research university spinoffs and major aerospace companies are among the entities vying for a share of the simmering commercial market for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) generally weighing less than 20 pounds. They are advancing numerous fixed- and rotary-wing designs, some of which were displayed at the Unmanned Systems 2014 conference in May and others elsewhere. Following is a description of some, although by no means all, of the recent showings: