Kobe University and Aerosense, a domestic drone manufacturer, will jointly participate in the world competition for disaster response and emergency goods transportation using drones, which will be held for three days from July 7 (Tuesday) in Yokohama City and Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture.A vertical take-off and landing type fixed-wing drone developed by Aerosense is equipped with an object-throwing device developed by Kobe University.
According to Aerosense, the competition is the "World Drone Competition" co-hosted by the International Federation of Automated Control Systems (IFAC) and the Advanced Robotics Foundation.A total of 4 teams from Japan and overseas are scheduled to participate.
The event is based on the assumption that a disaster occurred near Futtsu Minato Park in Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture.From Hakkeijima in Yokohama City, about 16 kilometers across Tokyo Bay, a drone loaded with about 300 grams of therapeutic drugs will cross the sea and drop the therapeutic drugs at the supply drop site in Futtsu Minato Park.After that, the drone returns to Hakkeijima, but performs a series of operations during this time without charging.
The drone used in the competition is a vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing drone equipped with an inertial reel (yo-yo) type object throwing device developed by Associate Professor Takamitsu Urakubo of the Kobe University Graduate School of System Informatics.Aerosense and Kobe University will jointly operate the drones at the competition.
