Concept of safe route design utilizing 3D point clouds
*This is a translation of the original Japanese press release.
Tokyo, Japan – September 24, 2026 – SENSYN ROBOTICS, Inc. has implemented a "Safe Flight Route Design Function" and a "Distance & Coordinate Acquisition Function" utilizing 3D point cloud data into its drone-based overhead transmission facility inspection application, "POWER GRID Check" (hereinafter "PGC").
These new capabilities translate technologies established during joint research with Chubu Electric Power Grid Co., Inc. into practical, operational features within PGC. As a result, the safety verification of flight routes and the acquisition of structure coordinates—which previously relied on visual inspection and manual piloting in the field—can now be conducted on an office PC, significantly reducing field work.
Background
While drone-automated navigation has become widely adopted in overhead transmission line inspection operations, the preceding process of "flight route design" has continued to require manual labor and field work.
Previously, flight route safety was ensured by pilots traveling to the site, visually assessing surrounding trees and topography, determining a safe clearance distance, and manually inputting it into PGC. Consequently, these determinations partly depended on the skill and intuition of individual pilots. Additionally, obtaining the structure coordinates foundational to route generation required manual drone flights on-site, requiring a substantial amount of preparation time.
To address these challenges, SENSYN ROBOTICS and Chubu Electric Power Grid explored approaches to automate and streamline flight route safety checks and coordinate acquisition by utilizing 3D point cloud data obtained through LiDAR measurements and aerial surveying.
Overview of Joint Research Initiatives
Since 2021, both companies have implemented PGC into Chubu Electric Power Grid's transmission line inspection operations and continued its operational use. Concurrently, they have conducted joint research to further advance inspection workflows.
In 2023, with an eye toward Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations, the companies completed a technical feasibility investigation for commercial implementation regarding automatic inspection flight route correction technology utilizing 3D point cloud data (*1).
In this study, the team verified criteria for aligning point cloud data with real-world altitude information. By unifying both the flight route altitude and the point cloud data altitude to the ellipsoid height (*2) based on GNSS positioning, they confirmed that discrepancies with actual drone measurement results could be kept within a few centimeters to a few tens of centimeters.
Furthermore, during automated flights using actual transmission line structures with routes automatically corrected based on collision determination against point cloud data, the clearance distance designed in virtual space matched actual measurement results with high accuracy.
This release marks the official commercial implementation of these research outcomes as standard features within PGC.
Newly Implemented Features
1．Import and Management of 3D Point Cloud Data
Users can now register and manage 3D point cloud data for each structure on PGC. Measurement data from LiDAR-equipped drones and point cloud data obtained via aerial surveying are stored in association with structure master data.
The registered point cloud data is referenced by both the "Distance & Coordinate Acquisition Function" and "Safe Flight Route Design Function." Registration status and measurement dates can be checked on the structure master data screen. Updating data according to vegetation growth or topographical changes ensures operations are always based on the latest site conditions.
Centralized management of 3D point cloud data registration status and measurement dates per structure
2．Distance & Coordinate Acquisition Function – Eliminates the need for manual on-site flights
Previously, acquiring structure coordinates required traveling to the site and performing manual flights. With this release, users can display registered 3D point cloud data in a 3D viewer and simply click on a point to directly reflect its 3D coordinates into PGC’s structure master data.
In addition to viewpoint rotation and zooming, the 3D viewer features height-highlighting that color-codes point clouds according to altitude, allowing precise selection of target locations.
Reflecting 3D coordinates into structure master data simply by selecting the target point on the 3D viewer
This function replaces on-site coordinate acquisition with office PC operations, reducing the labor and time previously spent on site visits and manual flights.
3．Safe Flight Route Design Function – Automates safety checks previously reliant on human intuition
Previously, flight route safety relied on human intuition to visually inspect surrounding trees and obstacles on-site, determine necessary clearance distances, and input them into PGC.
With this update, the system automatically compares generated flight routes against 3D point cloud data to determine collision risks with obstacles such as trees and structures. Based on arbitrarily configured vertical and horizontal clearance criteria, the system analyzes the area around each route point. If a collision risk is detected—such as a route passing too close to trees—a warning is displayed, and the entire route is automatically adjusted to a safe altitude. The correction amount can be verified on the route information review screen.
Detecting collision risks against point cloud data and automatically correcting the flight route to a safe altitude
This feature supports the creation of both structure inspection routes and span wire inspection routes. For structures with registered point cloud data, safety checks are executed by default. This ensures that flight route safety verifications are conducted under consistent standards independent of pilot skill, contributing to standardized inspection quality and enhanced safety.
Future Developments
Starting with these 3D point cloud data utilization features, SENSYN ROBOTICS will further promote data utilization across the entire inspection workflow.
With a view toward future BVLOS drone applications, SENSYN ROBOTICS will continue working to automate and advance flight route design while aiming to expand the application scope, such as replacing traditional land surveying operations using point cloud data.
Both companies will continue contributing to the advancement and efficiency of overhead transmission line inspection operations.
Notes
*2 Ellipsoid Height: Height based on an ellipsoid model representing the Earth. It is height information obtained directly via GNSS positioning, making it suitable for unifying data altitudes and achieving high-precision alignment.
About『POWER GRID Check』
"POWER GRID Check" is a specialized business application tailored for the maintenance of overhead power transmission facilities. It allows automated drones to perform comprehensive automated inspections of towers (structures/insulators) and power lines (overhead ground wires/power cables). The system ensures uniform data acquisition while maintaining a safe clearance distance between the drone and equipment. Workers without specialized drone knowledge can easily perform transmission line inspection operations.
1. Input transmission facility and coordinate data into the web application "POWER GRID Check" to generate an automated flight route.
2. Retrieve the flight route via the mobile application "SENSYN Flight Edge," which controls and communicates with the drone, and transmit it to the aircraft.
3. The drone autonomously navigates along the flight route to capture images of the power transmission facilities.
Automated Transmission Facility Inspection Flow Using "POWER GRID Check"
About SENSYN ROBOTICS
SENSYN ROBOTICS is a leading social infrastructure DX company with the mission of "evolving the 'natural' in society." We use the power of AI and data to solve the problems faced by society and businesses.
We solve issues such as labor shortages, safety risks, and rising costs that exist in the social and industrial infrastructure that supports Japan and the world with software solutions for data utilization that anyone can handle, making full use of the latest technologies, including AI.
Utilizing the know-how gained from a wealth of projects and our proprietary software development platform "SENSYN CORE," we provide comprehensive support from consulting to scenario formulation, business feasibility evaluation, technology and system development, and implementation in actual operations. We will help realize a sustainable future by solving social issues such as inspections of aging infrastructures, a declining workforce due to the falling birthrate and aging population, and increasingly severe disasters.
Head Office：4F Sumitomo Fudosan Oimachiekimae Building 1-28-1 Oi, Shinagawa-City, Tokyo Japan
Established：October, 2015
CEO：Takuya Kitamura
https://www.sensyn-robotics.com/en