The world's first hydro-air-combined drone that flies in the sky and dives under water wins the Robot Award ``Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award''

The world's first (Note 1) "water-air combination drone" jointly developed by KDDI Smart Drone, KDDI Research Institute, and Prodrone won the "Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award" at the "10th Robot Awards." This award is given to particularly outstanding robots, parts, and software, as well as their advanced utilization, research and development, and human resource development efforts, in order to encourage the development of robot technology and the expansion of robot use. The water-air combination drone is the world's first drone that combines an aerial drone and an underwater drone, and can fly in the sky and dive under water using remote control via mobile communication. Acoustic positioning equipment allows drone position information to be obtained even underwater when satellite-based positioning systems (GPS) cannot be used, making it possible to perform underwater monitoring and photography remotely from land without leaving the boat, which previously had to be done by divers on a boat.

Hydro-air-combined drones will make it easier to take pictures underwater, making it ideal for the aging fishing industry, aging aquatic infrastructure such as bridge piers, dams, and port facilities, and underwater monitoring and filming for river and coastal disaster prevention. Efficiency improvements are expected, and efforts are underway to put it into practical use, including a demonstration in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, which assumes an inspection of offshore wind power generation infrastructure, and an inspection demonstration of an oyster farm in Manazuru Town, Kanagawa Prefecture. It will also be held at Tokyo Big Sight from October 19th to 21st, 2022. “Japan Robot Week 2022” This machine will be exhibited at the Robot Awards joint exhibition. KDDI Smart Drone, KDDI Research Institute, and Prodrone will realize safer and more efficient water infrastructure management through water-air integrated drones, contributing to the further utilization of water areas expected in the future. Please see the attached sheet for details. [Attachment] ■About the water-space combination drone 1. Aircraft Overview - Combining an aerial drone and an underwater drone, it is possible to fly in the sky and dive underwater. ・The underwater drone can be placed in a cage, and the underwater drone can be released and retrieved by remote control.

2. Remote control/photography By connecting to the smart drone platform (Note 2) via mobile communication, it is possible to take underwater photos while remotely viewing the autonomous flight instructions of the water-space drone and real-time broadcasts from the aerial and underwater cameras.

3. Acoustic positioning - Acoustic positioning allows you to operate the underwater drone while checking its position on the map. ・The signal from the acoustic generator attached to the underwater drone is received by the acoustic receiver inside the aerial drone on the water surface, and the position of the underwater drone is determined by combining the positioning results of both drones.

4. Applications Since it is possible to check underwater conditions from the shore without having to take a boat out, it is expected to be useful in a variety of applications, including fisheries monitoring where fish farms and fixed nets are checked on a daily basis by boat, underwater infrastructure inspections such as offshore wind power, dams, and bridge piers, ship bottom inspections before departure, and blue carbon measurements.

5. Development system Smart drone platform: KDDI Smart Drone Co., Ltd. Acoustic positioning technology: KDDI Research Institute Co., Ltd. Aircraft production: Prodrone Co., Ltd. 6. Water-space combination drone video Here You can view it from here. (Note 1) Developed by three companies on May 31, 2021 for the first time in the world, it is a civilian drone that combines an aerial drone and an underwater drone and can fly in the sky and dive under water using remote control via mobile communication. (Note 2) The smart drone platform is a platform that realizes autonomous flight beyond visual line of sight and remote monitoring and control using mobile communications. ■About the Robot Award Robot Award Home Page (https://www.robotaward.jp/about/index.html)