Hitachi has launched a drone platform expanding its infrastructure inspection services capability with an artificial intelligence (AI) assisted, drone-based service, using a UTM backbone provided by Unifly and Terradrone.
In August 2018, Hitachi was awarded the contract for the development of the “Fukushima Robot Test Field” drone flight management system, a test centre which advances beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.
Unifly and Terra Drone provide the technical UTM backbone to ensure safe BVLOS drone flights at the test centre. After registration the drones are monitored and tracked in real-time informing the authorities continuously of drone flight activities and flight compliance.
Hitachi is conducting advanced demonstration experiments with customers in a wide range of industries and expanding the services that use AI to process and analyse data collected by drones. Hitachi Group’s drone based solutions are cloud-based and incorporate the following three concepts: “safe and secure autonomous flight”, “one-stop solution” and “cooperative creative innovation”. In addition to this Hitachi Group actively contributes to the development of the necessary legal and standardisation frameworks by providing policy advise through the Japan Unmanned Operation Management Consortium (JUTM), by researching the next generation unmanned aerial vehicles at the University of Tokyo and by participating in the ISO’s international standardisation activities.
