Fire Research Center conducts night survey verification test assuming disaster situation

On February 18, 2022, ProDrone Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, President and CEO: Shunsuke Totani, hereinafter referred to as PRODRONE), together with Nakanippon Airways Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Toyoyama-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture, Representative Director and President: Hajime Futagami, hereinafter referred to as Nakanippon Airlines), conducted a joint project with Nakanippon Airways Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, President and CEO: Shunsuke Totani, hereinafter referred to as Nakanippon Airlines) on the premises of Fujioka Heliport in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. Fire Research Center) carried out a night survey verification flight (hereinafter referred to as this verification) assuming a disaster.

The purpose of this verification is to perform UAV laser surveying during the day and night and verify the accuracy of point cloud data obtained from the UAV laser. Data was acquired while changing conditions such as flight altitude, flight speed, and terrain, and point cloud data and topographic maps were created in about 20 minutes after the measurements were completed using on-site analysis software that leverages Nakanihon Air's know-how.

We received the following comments regarding this verification from Dr. Toshida, Chief Researcher, Earthquake and Disaster Research Laboratory, Technology Research Department, Fire Research Center.

"We encountered many problems during the verification, but in the end we were able to obtain very good data. The data obtained during the night flight was as expected, and it was a great achievement to be able to demonstrate that data with this level of accuracy could be obtained even at night.
During rescue operations at landslide disaster sites, it is possible to improve speed and safety by acquiring data at night, when rescue operations are difficult. Based on this verification, we will aim to improve the ease of operation required in the field and increase the speed of analysis processing.
There are also two main reasons why we chose the Pro Drone aircraft. First, it needed to be equipped with a large 3D scanner, so it needed an aircraft with sufficient payload capacity. Another is the security risks associated with unmanned aircraft. (Regarding policies regarding the procurement of unmanned aircraft by government agencies, etc. [September 14, 2020, related ministries and agencies] (see), high security was set.
Ease of operation is an important point when using drones for firefighting. In the future, we hope that PRODRONE will make it easier to set up automatic navigation, and expand services such as operational advice tailored to firefighting operations (irregular operations).

PRODRONE is developing aircraft with a focus on disaster, inspection, and logistics fields. We will continue to actively develop aircraft that will be useful in times of disaster, while reflecting the voices of the field.

Verification video

Setting up the surveying device installed on the drone

Aircraft used this time PD6B-Type3

GCS*1 screen during daytime/night surveying

Daytime survey data (provided by Fire Research Center)

Night survey data (provided by Fire Research Center)

*1) GCS (Ground Control Station) is a device that allows you to check the aircraft's flight path and operation management on the ground.
*2) DSM (Digital Surface Model) is called a digital elevation model or digital ground model, and is a digital elevation model of the surface layer that combines the ground (topography) and features such as buildings and trees on top of it.
*3) SDEM (Substratum Digital Elevation Model) is a model that sharpens the ground surface under vegetation using Nakanihon Airways' proprietary technology.