News Release
Sundred Corporation (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter “Sundred”), Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory Ltd. (Head Office: Edogawa-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter “ACSL”), Sensyn Robotics, Inc. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter “Sensyn Robotics”), PHB Design Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka; hereinafter “PHB Design”), VFR Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter “VFR”), and Rikei Corporation (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter “Rikei”) are pleased to announce that they will launch the Take Off Anywhere Project (hereinafter, the “ToA Project”) for the Development of Drones to Make People Happy in an Era with Life Expectancy Reaching 100 Years on Monday, February 22, 2021. The purpose of this project is to ensure the implementation of drone technologies in society to respond to the potential regulation of drone flight over people beyond the visual line of sight that is expected to occur in 2022 as described in the government’s Roadmap for Aerial Industrial Revolution 2020.
Currently, multiple people with specialized knowledge and skills must be present on-site to do the tasks necessary for flying a drone for an industrial purpose. This is costly and time-consuming and involves other problems. To resolve this real issue — the necessity of preparing a drone and dedicating the labor and expertise needed for preparations — the ToA Project promotes the development of a system enabling more efficient operations. Further, the companies will provide the public with sufficient information to enable their understanding of the possibilities of drones and the challenges that must be overcome to ensure their use in society, which is not a pipe dream. At the same time, they will also work on the development of necessary technologies.
The project is seeking companies and end users to participate in or cooperate with this initiative.
Project overview
Name
Take Off Anywhere Project: the Development of Drones to Make People Happy in an Era with Life Expectancy Reaching 100 Years
(Abbreviated name: ToA Project)
Launched
Monday, February 22, 2021
Description
1) Providing information about the potential of and challenges faced by drone technologies, improving public knowledge and building partnerships with the goal of ensuring the implementation of drones in society
2) Developing the peripheral technologies necessary for the implementation of drones in society that can be implemented jointly
Participating companies and their roles
1) Sundred (Person in charge: Masanobu Todome, Representative Director)
Leading development in the drone industry through the promotion of the co-creation of an eco-system through its new industry co-creation process
2) ACSL (Person in charge: Satoshi Washiya, President, COO, & Representative Director)
Development of drone bodies, development of takeoff and landing control systems and automatic navigation control systems, and the provision of information about the potential of and challenges faced by drones from the perspective of airframe technologies
3) Sensyn Robotics (Person in charge: Takuya Kitamura, President & Representative Director)
Development of software for fully autonomous drone bases
Provision of information about the potential of and challenges faced by drones from an economic perspective and the perspectives of use cases
4) PHB Design (Person in charge: Kenji Hazama, President & Representative Director)
Suggestion and validation of logistics features that pharmacies should have to fulfill their telemedicine services
5) VFR (Person in charge: Koichiro Yuasa, COO)
Development of drone bodies, development of hardware for fully automatic drone bases, and provision of information about the potential of and challenges faced by drones from the perspective of manufacturing and the economy
6) Rikei (Person in charge: Daiki Ishikawa, General Manager, New Business Promotion Office)
Building an environment for developing drones by using a virtual reality space
Supporting partners
Kaga FEI Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Drawing Ltd.
VAIO Corporation
manabu design inc.
Morita Holdings Corporation
Ryoyo Electro Corporation
Responsible person:
Atsushi Inoue (VFR Inc.), Secretary General of Project Office, ToA Project
URL
*As of February 2, 2021. All company names are listed in Japanese alphabetical order. The latest information about the project is available at the website above.
Background and goals
- Challenges that must be overcome for achieving the implementation of drones in society
In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Roadmap for Aerial Industrial Revolution 2020 illustrates the country’s goal to realize flights over people beyond the visual line of sight, without a visual observer, in 2022. The establishment of laws, systems, and an environment to achieve this is being discussed by the Public-Private Council and other actors jointly by the government, industry and academia, raising hopes for the implementation of drones in society. However, to implement new technologies in society, it is essential for drone operators to be proactive in the building of systems and the design of a comprehensive system for implementation in society and firmly link the level of the achieved technologies with the settings where the technologies are used. Further, stakeholders must clarify the challenges to be overcome for the implementation of drones in society and work as one to overcome them.
ACSL, Sensyn Robotics, and VFR, operate businesses with the goal of using drones in society, have a common understanding of the above challenges and had been discussing how to overcome them.
- Aiming to build a society enabling anyone to use drones anywhere and at anytime when they are needed, leveraging individual strengths
The three companies decided to launch the ToA Project with the goal of advancing open co-creation through the proactive promotion of the project as a collaboration that extends beyond the boundaries between companies, and thus are widely seeking partners to support this initiative. In this process, Sundred, which aims to create 100 new industries to accelerate co-creation, joined them as a co-creation partner.
Rikei and PHB Design also expressed their agreement with the intent of the project and decided to advance the ToA Project to overcome challenges.
The participating companies will collaborate to leverage the unique strengths of each participant and provide the public with knowledge about the potential of drones and the challenges that must be overcome to achieve their implementation in society. They will also work to develop necessary technologies. The final goal of the ToA Project is to establish social infrastructure that enables drones to be a part of life, build a system for the mass production of drones, and quickly realize a world where anyone is able to use drones anywhere at any time when they are needed.
Looking for participants
Companies wishing to participate in this project or utilize its services should contact the following office. The ToA Project office will respond to inquiries.
*Use the inquiry form at the bottom of the page.
About Sundred
Sundred is a new industry accelerator aiming for the co-creation of 100 new industries. At present, the company is advancing 12 new industry projects. The company co-creates social goals through dialogue with diverse working members of society, reflects their opinions in hypothetical ecosystems to create targets that serve as a driving force, creates core businesses for building these ecosystems (which it calls “trigger businesses”), and accelerates the growth of these businesses to build the ecosystems. The company accelerates the creation and development of new industries that are required by new paradigms, through the new industry co-creation process and new industry theme creation framework (HASE model) integrating the knowledge of academia into the implementation of projects, together with a network of “Interpreneurs,” or working members of society who act in a target-oriented manner.
| Company name | Sundred Corporation |
|---|---|
| Address | Yebisu Garden Place Tower, 4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo |
| Representative | Masanobu Todome, Representative Director |
| Established | March 2017 |
| URL | https://sundred.co.jp |
| Business | The company is a new industry accelerator that aims to co-create 100 new industries. It operates the New Industry Co-creation Studio and consolidates resources into growth domains, starting with the design of ecosystems to co-create new industries. |
About ACSL
ACSL develops domestically-produced industrial drones to realize a reduction or elimination of labor in existing operations in the industrial field, and offers cutting-edge autonomous control technology featuring image processing and AI edge computing and industrial drones that feature this same technology in particular. These drones have already been adopted in a variety of fields, including infrastructure inspections, postal mail, logistics, and disaster prevention.
| Company name | Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Address | Floor 2, Hulic Kasai Rinkai Bldg., 3-6-4 Rinkaicho, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo |
| Representative | Hiroaki Ohta, CEO and Representative Director
Satoshi Washiya, President, COO, & Representative Director |
| Established | November 1, 2013 |
| URL | https://www.acsl.co.jp/ |
| Business | Manufacturing and sale of commercial drones and the provision of solution services related to autonomous drone operations and their use together with IoT, which is achieved through autonomous control technology |
About Sensyn Robotics
Sensyn Robotics works under its mission, “We are evolving what is considered ‘commonplace’ in society with the power of robotics.” As a leading company in the digital transformation of social infrastructure, the company solves issues faced by companies and society through drones and other robotics technologies.
Applying the expertise acquired through a large number of projects, the company supports the entire process, from the creation of scenarios to demonstration experiments and the establishment of practical applications. Thus, the company inspects aging social and industrial infrastructure and works to resolve social issues, such as the decrease of the working population due to the falling birthrate and the aging of the population and disasters that are growing more serious.
| Head office | Floor 7, Hiroo MTR Bldg. 2-36-13 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo |
|---|---|
| Established | October 2015 |
| Representative | Takuya Kitamura, President |
About PHB Design
PHB Design has been supporting the operations, training, and digitalization of Pharmedico Co., Ltd. (Hazama Pharmacy), which has been exploring and realizing its image of what homecare pharmacies should be in Japan since the golden days of dispensing pharmacies. Applying its expertise in the development of business models using people, goods, and money which was acquired through the above business, the company provides B2B consulting and training services to pharmacies.
| Head office | Floor 3, Yamanishiya Nishimago Bldg., 1-9-5 Tenjinbashi, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka |
|---|---|
| Established | December 2014 |
| Representative | Kenji Hazama, President & Representative Director |
About VFR
VFR was established as a subsidiary of VAIO Corporation with a vision of opening up the potential of people and society through technology and passion. They offer solutions for drone operators, service providers, and end users. They also aim to contribute to the construction of an ecosystem for the development of the drone industry by talking openly and frankly with everyone involved in the drone industry.
| Company name | VFR Inc. |
|---|---|
| Address | Floor 6, Kishimoto Bldg., 2-2-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| Representative | Masanobu Todome, President & Representative Director |
| Established | March 12, 2020 |
| URL | https://vfr.co.jp/ |
| Business | Planning, design, manufacturing, sales, repair, maintenance, inspections, and import/export of small pilotless aerial vehicles (drones) and incidental software, and their contracted design, manufacturing, and repair, as well as support for technology, design, production and sales operations, and planning incidental to the above, and others |
About Rikei Corporation
Rikei is a solution provider for the IT and electronics industries. The company offers a broad range of solutions centered on the world’s cutting edge technologies and advanced products in the fields of system and network solutions and electronic components and devices. In VR development, Rikei focuses on the development of technologies to create VR spaces equivalent to real spaces, and these technologies have been adopted by automobile manufacturers and others.
| Head office | Shinjuku Nomura Building, 1-26-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
|---|---|
| Capital | 3,427 million yen(as of the end of March, 2020) |
| Representative | Satoru Isaka, President & CEO |
| Business | Provision of system and network solutions and electronic components and devices |
| URL | https://www.rikei.co.jp/en/ |
*Product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.