The Energy Drone & Robotics Summit — the flagship annual gathering for unmanned systems and robotics in the energy sector — returns to The Woodlands on June 22–24, 2026. This is the 10th edition of a conference that has grown alongside the industry it covers: from a niche gathering of early drone operators into a 1,500-person event that reflects where the energy sector is actually deploying autonomous systems at scale.

The conference is anchored at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott and runs as part of InnovateEnergy Week — a multi-conference mega-event designed to bring robotics, data, and AI communities from across the energy industry under one roof at the same time. For Houston's energy and aerospace sectors, it is effectively the home conference.

What the Summit Covers

The EDR Summit is organized around the operational reality of energy companies deploying autonomous systems in the field, not around vendor marketing. The agenda is structured into technical tracks that map directly to how energy operators are actually using these technologies:

  • UAV Operations: Surveying & Mapping — Fixed-wing and multirotor platforms for pipeline corridor surveys, facility mapping, and change detection
  • Robotics Inspection, Maintenance & Repair — Ground robots, climbing robots, and tethered systems for asset inspection in confined spaces, elevated structures, and hazardous environments
  • Marine Robotics — Underwater and surface autonomous vehicles for offshore inspection, pipeline monitoring, and subsea asset management
  • Industrial Cargo Drone — Logistics and parts delivery in large industrial facilities and remote energy assets
  • Data Visualization & Analytics — The data pipeline side: how to turn drone and sensor captures into actionable inspection findings

Keynotes and Featured Speakers

The 2026 program includes keynote sessions that reflect the current moment in energy robotics — past the proof-of-concept phase and into the operational scaling questions:

"Enabling Real-World BVLOS for Utilities and Oil & Gas" — Matt Dunlevy, President & CEO of SkySkopes, joins Eileen Lockhart from Xcel Energy's UAS program management team to address the regulatory and operational conditions required to fly beyond visual line of sight at scale across energy infrastructure.

"Connected Drones and the Real-Time Energy Enterprise" — Dyan Gibbens of Trumbull Unmanned and Larry Barnard from Chevron's UAS Governance group discuss what it means to connect drone data into enterprise operations in real time — the integration layer between the flight and the decision.

"Autonomous Systems and Robotics — Demonstrating Value to the Energy Industry" — Sudhir Pai from Schlumberger anchors a session on how to make the business case for autonomous systems in energy, a topic that is increasingly about proving ROI on existing deployments rather than pitching first-time adoption.

Why This Matters for Houston

The EDR Summit exists in Houston for a reason: the Gulf Coast petrochemical complex is one of the largest concentrations of energy infrastructure in the world, and it is actively automating. Refineries, LNG terminals, pipeline networks, offshore platforms, and tank farms across the region are deploying inspection drones, ground robots, and autonomous monitoring systems at increasing scale.

The operational questions being answered at this summit — BVLOS flight rules, drone-in-a-box deployment patterns, subsea AUV inspection protocols, data integration — are not academic. They are being worked out in real programs at Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, Enterprise Products, and dozens of Gulf Coast operators whose assets surround this city.

The summit's focus on "practical results, ROI, program management, field operations, and lessons learned from real deployments" reflects the phase the industry is in. The drone-versus-rope-access cost comparison has been made. The question now is how to run 500 drone flights a month reliably, how to process and act on the data, and how to get regulatory clearance for the operational envelope that actually makes the technology economical.

The Broader InnovateEnergy Week Context

Running alongside the EDR Summit as part of InnovateEnergy Week brings additional attendees from adjacent technology communities — the data analytics, AI, and energy tech crowds who intersect with drone and robotics programs without being solely in the hardware world. For companies that sell software, data pipelines, or AI analysis tools into energy inspection workflows, the combined event format creates a denser audience than the robotics-only event did in prior years.

For Houston-area robotics and drone professionals, the proximity is a practical advantage. The Woodlands Waterway Marriott is roughly 30 miles north of downtown Houston — close enough for day-trip attendance without hotel commitment.

Registration and Information

The 10th Annual Energy Drone & Robotics Summit runs June 22–24, 2026 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott in The Woodlands, Texas. Registration and the full agenda are available at the Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition website: edrcoalition.com.