RATHDRUM - Three local cities are hoping a collaborative initiative on robot development will lift off thanks to $50,000 in seed money.

The cities of Rathdrum, Post Falls and Hayden won the grant through the America's Best Communities competition, a $10 million initiative to stimulate local economies.

The local application was among 50 of 138 nationwide chosen for the competition's quarterfinals, which allow communities to compete for an additional possible $3 million to bring their ideas to life.

"Our grant submittal focused on capitalizing on the new emerging technology surrounding autonomously piloted vehicles in the air, water and land," said Rathdrum city administrator Brett Boyer, who is among the leaders of the initiative.

"Our focus on land, water and air APVs will benefit diverse industries such as forestry, mining, fish and game, agriculture, recreation and search and rescue."

The initiative has broad-based support from education and business leaders. The University of Idaho, North Idaho College, Kootenai Technical Education Campus (KTEC), Jobs Plus, LCF Enterprises, Empire Airlines, Vertical Partners West and ExtraTech Corporation are also collaborating on the effort.

"A fully collaborative effort ... will be created resulting in certificate programs focused on APV programmers, fabricators and operators," according to the group's vision statement.

To obtain the funding, the local partners must provide a total of $15,000 in matching funds to put the effort's total at $65,000.

The grant submission lists several initiatives to engage the community, including building a community multi-use robot for multiple applications, creating college-level certificate programs, expanding robotics festivals to include APVs and conducting sessions to discuss growth barriers.

"This is an area that's just beginning to be tapped," Boyer said. "We're looking at this as an economic development tool to build our community."

The local group will work over the next six months to further develop its strategy to compete for a $100,000 second-level prize. The third round offers $1 million, $2 million and $3 million prizes.

The three-year competition is sponsored by Frontier Communications, DISH Network, CoBank and The Weather Channel.

"The innovative ideas the competition is investing in have the potential to become roadmaps to growth for communities across the U.S.," said Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier executive chairman.

Valley County submitted another Idaho application that made it to the competition's quarterfinals.

"Idaho's success in the competition didn't just happen," said Mike Towne, Frontier's vice president and general manager for Idaho. "It's the result of hardworking people and determined local businesses coming together to make their communities great places to live, work and raise a family."

The development of robot technology has started to rise in North Idaho, as Empire Unmanned of Hayden recently showcased the first legal commercial agriculture drone flight.

Empire Unmanned is a venture between Empire Airlines of Hayden; ADAVSO of Star, Idaho; and Blair Farms of Kendrick, Idaho. ADAVSO was the first entity in the country to be granted a Section 333 exemption by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS, commonly known as a drone) commercially for agriculture.

The three firms are the original members of the Idaho UAS Working Group, a statewide network of businesses, universities and state and federal government organizations that are the driving force behind advancing UAS interests throughout the state.