*The translation function installed in our site is done by computer system, human hand is not added.
Tokyo, Japan - April 04, 2023 - SENSYN ROBOTICS and Shimizu Corporation Ltd. jointly conducted a proof-of-concept (POC) experiment to utilize autonomous drones for patrol and inspections in a shield tunnel under construction. Our technology enables stable autonomous drone flights even in tunnels where GNSS*１ is not available, making it possible to use drones for on-site inspections inside tunnels.
Background and Challenges
Shield tunnel sites are extremely large, with the distance from the tunnel entrance to the excavation surface reaching up to 7 km. As the construction work proceeds, the length of the tunnel from the entrance to the excavation surface extends, increasing the workload for inspection patrols. In addition, providing on-site tours for visitors was another burden.
Initiatives
In the test, the "Skydio Dock," the dedicated drone base for Skydio devices, was used to create automatic flight paths and perform autonomous flights via a cloud platform. The "Skydio Dock" enables users to automatically take off and land drones without having to physically visit the site. Even from a remote location, you can autonomously fly the skydio drone by simply pressing the takeoff button. Skydio drones are designed to fly autonomously even in environments like narrow hallways or with obstacles, and automatically return to the home Dock and automatically recharge the battery. Autonomous flight technology with AI or Visual SLAM*₂ makes it possible to perform inspections while keeping a certain distance from inaccessible equipment, such as conveyor belts. In addition, video monitoring can be done in real time remotely, allowing for the replacement of holiday and nighttime patrols and for the reduction of human labor required for guiding visitors.
Remote video checking
Video from Skydio
Future Plans
Initially, we plan to make a trial installation with one unit in FY 2023. Once the expected effects are achieved, we will continue to improve operational efficiency by increasing the number of drones as construction goes on and the distance is extended.
SENSYN ROBOTICS has been providing automated operations using our fully automated drone system "SENSYN Drone Hub" for the past five years. We look forward to providing post-introduction follow-up with our expertise to enhance the value of the system. By linking the "Skydio Dock" with our platform, "SENSYN CORE," the data acquisition, data management, and data analysis can be automated.
Notes
*1 GNSS...Global Navigation Satellite System. It includes GPS in the US, QZSS in Japan, GLONASS in Russia, and Galileo in the European Union.
*2 Visual-SLAM...Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (technology for self-localization and environmental mapping mainly with camera images)
About SENSYN ROBOTICS
SENSYN ROBOTICS provides the guidance to organizations who seek digital transformations by laying out a DX platform tailored to the organization's needs.
We invest our time to bring DX to social infrastructures.
Our mission is to “evolve what we take for granted in society through the power of robotics”. We strive to solve challenges which businesses and societies face with the assistance of robotic technologies such as drones. We use our expertise to provide technologies and solutions to solve numerous challenges ranging from labor shortage, error prevention, safety improvement, to prompt countermeasures in the event of disasters.
We pledge to provide comprehensive support from project design (PD) to proof of concept (PoC), up to the implementation of services in real world applications.
Our aim at SENSYN ROBOTICS is to use the power of robotics and AI to solve social issues.