KDDI Smart Drone, ProDrone, and Kunimori selected for the Cabinet Office's ``Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle (AUV) Utilization Demonstration Project'' ~ Demonstration begins for practical application of remote ship bottom inspection using water-air combined drone ~

KDDI Smart Drone Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Masafumi Hirono, hereinafter referred to as KDDI Smart Drone), Prodrone Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Representative Director and President: Shunsuke Toya, hereinafter referred to as Prodrone), Kunimori Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Representative Director and President: Ishihara) The three companies, Toshiki (hereinafter referred to as Kunimori), have been selected by the Cabinet Office for the ``Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle (AUV) Utilization Demonstration Project,'' and are scheduled to begin demonstrations (hereinafter referred to as this initiative) in August of this year. In this initiative, we will carry out remote ship bottom inspection using a "hydro-air combined drone" that can fly in the sky, dive underwater, and conduct underwater inspections remotely through autonomous flight, and by verifying its method and efficiency, we will work towards establishing rules and putting into practical use an efficient ship bottom inspection method using drones.

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In the shipping industry, which emits about 2.5% of the world's CO2, there is a need to improve the fuel efficiency of ships and protect the marine environment, and there is a growing momentum to manage ship bottom deposits and make annual ship bottom inspections compulsory, which are factors that reduce fuel efficiency. In addition, conventional ship bottom inspections have been carried out visually by divers, but this is expected to be affected by a shortage of human resources in the future. Through this initiative, we aim to improve the efficiency and homogenization of ship bottom inspection work as a whole and reduce dangerous work by analyzing images using AI from remote and autonomously flying drones. Additionally, with the premise of social implementation, we will work with Nippon Kaiji Kyokai to create rules for ship bottom inspections for practical use.