TEPCO Group, Zenrin and Rakuten examining "drone highways" for drone logistics
12 July 2018 - 8:00PM
JCN Newswire (English)
TEPCO Ventures, Inc., Zenrin Co., Ltd. and Rakuten, Inc.
announced today that they have begun examining the utilization of
"drone highways," or the airspace above infrastructure such as
power transmission lines, for drone logistics. The three companies
also announced that they safely carried out the world's first
demonstration test utilizing a drone highway on July 27.
TEPCO Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power
Company Holdings, Inc., and map publisher Zenrin formed an alliance
on March 29, 2017 to confirm the use of drone highways for safe
drone-based deliveries. The concept, which is attracting increasing
interest, is a focus of the "2018 Roadmap for the Industrial
Revolution of the Sky," which was approved by the Public-Private
Conference on Infrastructure Creation for Drones in Japan in June
2018.
To develop a drone highway, TEPCO and Zenrin have been studying how
to combine data on TEPCO's infrastructure, such as transmission
lines and towers, substations and utility poles, with Zenrin's
three-dimensional maps of the sky, which are currently under
development. Going forward, several test courses will be set up in
eastern Japan's Kanto Region during 2018 to demonstrate the
practical use of drone highways.
Internet services company Rakuten, which has been operating a
drone-based delivery service called "Rakuten Drone," has joined the
initiative. The first demonstration test, conducted in Chichibu,
Saitama Prefecture on July 27, successfully achieved the world's
first drone-based delivery using a power line route for the flight
path.
Going forward, TEPCO Ventures, Zenrin and Rakuten will conduct
further demonstration tests to confirm the practicality of using
drone highways for drone logistics.
Initiative Overview
(1) Three-dimensional rendering of power transmission towers and
development of geo-fences and monitoring application (Zenrin)
- A technology for creating three-dimensional renderings of power
transmission towers is being developed and adopted.
- Equipment for automatically detecting a drone's proximity to
power transmission towers and transmission lines (geo-fences) is
being developed and implemented.
- In addition, a monitoring application to display in real time the
status of inflight drones and geo-fence profiles is being
developed.
(2) Installation of weather observation instruments (TEPCO
Ventures)
- Weather observation instruments were installed along the drone
highway to ascertain weather conditions in real time.
- Drone flights were operated in accordance with weather conditions
ascertained with the observation instruments.
- Drone flights will be made even safer by analyzing big data
obtained from observation instruments.
(3) Flying the drone highway (TEPCO Ventures, Zenrin and
Rakuten)
- "Rakuten Drone," an autonomous drone-based delivery service, flew
one way on a drone highway for approximately 3km (June 27,
2018)
- The drone successfully delivered boxed lunches to local residents
while maintaining a safe distance from power transmission
infrastructure.
About TEPCO Ventures
TEPCO Ventures is a Tokyo-based wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo
Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., Japan's largest electrical
utility. TEPCO Ventures develops both wholly owned subsidiaries
within the TEPCO Group and joint-venture companies with partners in
various industries either in Japan or overseas. The company is
exploring various fields for next-generation business by fusing
platforms for energy and other industries.
About Zenrin Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1948 in Beppu, Oita Prefecture of Japan by Masatomi
Osako as a publisher of tourist maps, ZENRIN has a history of over
60 years in the mapping arena. Having great reputations for wide
range of maps for various purposes. These maps are based on ZENRIN
residential maps which covers the whole area of Japan. In addition
to maps, ZENRIN possesses a strong market share in map software,
in-car navigation software and related IT services. Moreover,
ZENRIN has expanded its opportunities overseas with offices in the
U.S., Europe, India and Taiwan, further extending the already
expansive cartographic database. ZENRIN will continue to strive to
compile cartographic databases that cross borders and pursue
further expansion of our products in the relatively new fields of
digital maps and IT map distribution services.
About Rakuten, Inc.
Rakuten, Inc. is a global leader in internet services that empower
individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in Tokyo
in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer
services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications
to more than 1.2 billion members around the world. The Rakuten
Group has over 15,000 employees, and operations in 30 countries and
regions. For more information visit
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/
Source: TEPCO
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