Work with KDDI and JAL to establish a new company-"accelerating the Social Infrastructure of drones" (CNET Japan)-Yahoo! Journalism

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Cooperate with KDDI and JAL to set up a new company-- "speeding up the social infrastructure of drones"

　On February 15th, KDDI held "KDDI Smart UAV Conference 2022" online, with two news releases: "collaborating with Japan Airlines (JAL)" and "setting up new companies and providing new services". In collaboration with JAL, our goal is to apply the company's aviation safety technology and knowledge to KDDI's UAV operation management system and establish a safe operation management system. KDDI, founded as a derivative venture of KDDI, has begun to offer "smart drones", a new service led by "4G LTE packaging" with a basic monthly fee of 49,800 yen (including tax). At the press conference, Hiroshi Matsuda, Executive Director of Business creation, Executive Director of KDDI, Hiroshi Nishiko, Executive Director of Digital Innovation, JAL Executive Director, and Hiroshi Hirofumi, Chairman of KDDI Intelligent UAV, took office in April. Matsuda, the "two keys" for the social infrastructure of drones, said that the ban on level 4 will be lifted in 2022 and can fly autonomously over long distances. "2022 is the year of game realization." It is reported that long-range autonomous flight has become a "detonating agent", and the domestic UAV market is expected to grow rapidly. Then, he said enthusiastically, "the era depicted at the beginning of our drone career, the rise of drones one after another across the country, has finally come." In the face of the social infrastructure of this drone, "there are two keys." One is "mobile communication". Our goal is to "connect drones" so that drones can fly all the time. The other is the "shipping management system". It requires not only single monitoring of UAV, but also the management of the entire airspace of multiple UAV flight to avoid collision. On "mobile communications for drones", Matsuda said: "as we KDDI, au," I will always connect more. Take "as the slogan, improve the airwaves of mobile phones on the ground every day." The amendment to the Radio Law in 2020 allows it to be used in the sky. Drones can fly up to 150 meters, so for example, measuring radio waves every 50 meters can visualize and optimize high-altitude mobile communications. In addition, in terms of localized "Sky Navigation Management", "so far, the navigation management system, about six years of empirical experimental development, the expansion of functions has also been promoted, and most drones fly over the world at the same time." to achieve the rules of service application and System building also needs to be really established. " Matsuda said, "I think we have reached this stage when the foundation is consolidated and the application problems are solved," and announced a collaboration with JAL. "I'm really delighted to be able to work with Japan Airlines, which understands Sky World, to apply JAL's aviation safety technology and insights to our operations management system." (Matsuda) Mr. Nishiro of JAL took the stage after the launch of a collaboration between two companies that want to safely use "multiple drones" across the country. Said what he wanted to achieve with KDDI. Xi Xi first explained JAL's efforts in the area of security. It is reported that in JAL, various departments such as operation, security promotion headquarters, operation and shipping work together to make Safety Management System play a role. In the operation headquarters, Integrated Operations Control uniformly manages the operation, implements security risk assessment, error analysis based on human factors and necessary countermeasures. The aim of working with KDDI is to apply these initiatives to drones. "We believe that the social infrastructure of drones requires the establishment of a shipping system and the development of a shipping management system, two rounds," Xi said. " JAL and KDDI have also previously worked on a number of flight confirmations. Among them, JAL is responsible for establishing the shipping system. Through the formulation of shipping regulations, the clarification of the roles and responsibilities of all parties, the formulation of irregular guidelines, the establishment of operating procedures through the production of communication essentials, and the use of checklists to formulate measures to prevent work mistakes. In addition, KDDI is also responsible for the development and operation management system, which is committed to the installation of long-distance autonomous flight, the integrated management of multi-fuselage throughout the country, and the visualization of surrounding information such as meteorology, maps, aircraft and so on. In the future, while playing a role in each other, we will also seek to upgrade the management system. "We believe that in the future, we will take the lifting of the ban at level 4 as an opportunity to move towards an era in which drones have become social infrastructure, and the establishment of a shipping system needs to improve safety and shipping efficiency. In the development of the operation management system, it is necessary to systematize the rules of airspace utilization. JAL and KDDI will create a safe and efficient operating environment for various drones across the country. "in the future, in the short term, the two companies will use drones to establish new business models in outlying islands, and in the medium to long term, the shipping management of drones. Carry on the research on the system and business model of the application and control of airspace management. The "4G LTE package" necessary for remote operation began to be offered, and finally, Hiroshi Hirono, chairman of the KDDI smart drone, took office in April. Matsuda said, "in 2022 this new era of drones, we will use mobile communications and shipping management, these two weapons, to create." It is reported that Hiroano joined KDDI for more than 10 years, from the base station to the terminal participated in the development of the entire mobile communications, 6 years ago participated in the commercialization of drones using mobile communications project. "KDDI has been polishing mobile communications and shipping management for six years, and finally makes the cause of enterprises and autonomous bodies feel that they have entered a viable stage." The new service "Intelligent UAV" is also introduced. "We will focus on mobile communications, shipping management systems, cloud computing and other functions, to provide you with the function to expand the potential of UAV utilization, as a tool" (Hiroano). The basic scheme is "4G LTE package", which is necessary for long-distance operation of UAV. From now on, 49,800 yen per ID (including tax) can be used for mobile communications with unlimited data capacity, shipping management systems, and cloud services with a storage capacity of 100 GB. As for the difference from other services, Hirono explained, "it's not just mobile communications, shipping management and cloud computing." For example, if you make full use of intelligent drones, you can also automatically overhaul offshore wind power equipment, promote data to the cloud or even analyze it. In the event of a disaster, relief activities can also be carried out beyond the cut-off road. Hiroano also introduced optional services, "through intelligent drones, the use of drones can be greatly expanded." Provide the necessary functions according to the use, such as high-precision positioning and small weather sensors. In addition, the active use of the opinions of empirical experiments carried out in various fields so far also provides import support. In addition, in the future, the satellite Internet service "Starlink" provided by Space X, which was announced in 2021, will be used as the return journey of the base station to regionalize the places that cannot be pulled out of the optical line, so as to expand the area of intelligent drones. In addition, analytics capabilities in the cloud and peripheral services will be added in turn. The "communication module" needed to send and receive communications through drones is expected to be available in April. There are three features. The first is the "anti-noise design", which ensures the communication quality with high anti-noise performance and stable performance. The second is the "radio log analysis function", which automatically stores the radio log inside the module and always visualizes the radio wave condition above. The third is "Operation Management system Alliance". By loading the software used for the connection of KDDI's shipping management system in advance in the communication module, the module can be simply connected with the shipping management system as long as the module is mounted on the body. Nine airframe manufacturers have collaborated on the installation of the communication module, which is expected to be installed on 11 airframes. It is said that the production line is added in turn. In addition, Hirono also informed of the opportunity to try smart drones as a "pilot activity". The first batch is the 50 limited tickets that can be used free of charge by "4G LTE Packaging" this year. Registration starts now. The conference also received a video message from Kontaro Chiba of venture capital firm DRONE FUND, which will support the venture capital of drones and the operation of hands-on companies. Drones can carry objects, information, and access to information, and work may also become human. From now on, drones will become a huge infrastructure. Among them, the first innovation of the big Japanese enterprises is Mr. KDDI, with the KDDI intelligent drone as the center, all the big Japanese enterprises will be involved, I have a hunch about the movement. I hope that DRONE FUND can also help build a prerequisite society for drones while working with KDDI and domestic and foreign drone companies. "in the future, in order to further accelerate the social infrastructure of drones, cooperation with start-ups is more important than anything else," Hiroano said. " The presentation is over.