DRONEREVOLUTIONIS TAKING OFF FROM FUKUSHIMAMinamisoma

After suffering severe damage during the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, Fukushima is building new
industrial infrastructure toward its reconstruction. The robotics and drone industries are one part of that effort. With an
exceptional test field covering land, sea, and air, Fukushima is striving for sustainable development through regional
collaborations.
“We’re motivated by the idea ofspreading Japan’s aviation industry
from Fukushima Prefecture,” says
SOTANI Hideji, president ofEams Robotics Co., Ltd., anindustrial drone manufacturerbased in Minamisoma City,
Fukushima Prefecture.
Initiatives to build up various
industries are proceeding under
the Fukushima Innovation CoastFramework, a national projectthat seeks to build industrial
infrastructure in the prefecture
for its reconstruction after the2011 earthquake. The robotics
and drone industries are a criticalarea under the framework. The
Fukushima Robot Test Field
was established as a researchbase that can—exceptionally, byworld standards—reproduce theactual operating conditions ofground, maritime, underwaterand aerial robots, including
infrastructure and disasterzones. The field is now the site ofongoing innovative research anddevelopment.
Eams Robotics is developing

state-of-the-art
technology,
includingdronesequippedwith AI to keep them aloft.
The company is mainly focusedon using such drones forinspections and surveys in highor dangerous places not easily
accessible by humans, including
bridges, dams, and wind farms,
as well as for the transportationof supplies to hard-to-reachlocations such as mountainous
areas and remote islands, andfor the gathering of information
during disasters. Using drones
The Fukushima Robot Test Field was built inMinamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture. To
develop the existing technology, researchers
conduct demonstration tests and flight drills toinspect infrastructure and respond to disasters inhypothetical real-world environments. One goalof the test field is to build up a local robotics
industry. Shown right is a scene from anexperiment at the test field.

The main body and the unit can be separated,allowing the drone to be used for multiple purposes.
In the event of a disaster, it can be equipped with acamera that can transmit images of the damage anda speaker for guiding evacuation.

that can transmit live footage ofmajor disasters could allow for
quick situational assessment anda more targeted initial response.
“We’re developing a design thatallows a solo operator to control
multiple drones. Last November,
we conducted a field test in which
one person simultaneously flew
three drones in a search operation
at a fire site. To utilize drones associal infrastructure, costs need tobe reduced by controlling severalof the machines simultaneously,”
President Sotani said.
To develop the drone market
with an “all-Fukushima” approach,Eams Robotics has also implemented
horizontal cooperation with otherlocal companies based in theHamadori area, which includes
Minamisoma City. “We arestarting to build a sales network
and initiating collaborationon technical matters as well.
We want to foster the drone
industry by capitalizing on eachcompany’s strengths,” Sotani said
enthusiastically, adding that healso hopes to energize Fukushima’s
industry as a whole.
Cultivating the next generation

Drones are expected to play an active part in inspecting
and surveying bridges, dams, wind power plants, andother sites that are hard to access by humans, as well as
in assessing the situation at the time of a disaster. The
picture depicts a bridge-survey experiment.

A unit with a camera

A unit with a speakerof talent will be essential to growing
a drone industry with strong local
roots. Sotani gives talks about
drones at local junior high schools,
and the company has started using
the visits as opportunities to takein local students as interns. “We
aim to be a company at which
the children of Fukushima will
choose to work.”
Eams Robotics is also eying
markets beyond Japan’s shores.
Although foreign companies
account for a large share of the
global drone market, Sotani
sees additional opportunities
for Japanese companies to makeinroads there. “I believe thatJapanese firms excel in promptly
troubleshooting problems andoffering flexible customizationaccording to customer needs.
We can be effective in actively
developing new applications fordrones, as well as in the field of
information security,” he said.
The “Aerial Industrial Revolution”
that Fukushima’s advancements indrones will help make a reality isgoing to take off in a grand fashionin tandem with the prefecture’sreconstruction.

SOTANI Hideji, president of Eams Robotics.
The company co-established Fukushima Next
Generation Aviation Strategy Promotion
Council (FAS), which is working on training
professionals and collaborating with otherlocal companies so that Fukushima can build aworld-leading industry.