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| Message from the Research Director |
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We are involved in the Research and Development of a Sensing System for
the Road Infrastructure Monitoring System (RIMS) as part of the NEDO-commissioned
Robot and Sensor System Development Project for Infrastructure Maintenance
and Disaster Survey.
In this R&D, we are newly developing an innovative, compact, high-performance,
wireless sensor module that is durable and inexpensive and that is self-powered
by ambient energy, and a sensor network system that will enable road administrators
to centrally manage multiple types of monitoring targets. One of the most
pressing issues in Japan today is the maintenance and renewal of social
infrastructure, much of which was constructed around the high-growth period
from 1954 to 1973. Road infrastructure accounts for 92.3% of the domestic
volume of land freight transport (as of 2012) and heavily impacts the daily
lives of Japan’s citizens. Of this road infrastructure, the sensor modules
and sensor network system will focus on issues related to bridges, road
equipment, and slopes, complementing existing inspection technologies and
enabling 24-hour continuous and comprehensive monitoring of the present
state of roads. The system will enable monitoring of less accessible locations
and facilitate response to disasters and other unexpected events.
By establishing common platforms for wireless communication network technologies,
highly durable packaging and reliability technologies, and road site demonstration
and evaluation technologies in particular, we are streamlining development
through open innovation among industry, government, and academia, including
companies involved in sensors, communication systems, packaging, and expressways,
as well as independent administrative corporations and national university
corporations, and are building a system that addresses all needs of road
infrastructure.
We will begin by demonstrating the system on expressways that have an established framework for maintenance management. The results obtained from these demonstrations will then be extended to public roads and highways, thereby helping to enrich the lives of people through safe and secure road infrastructure. I believe that further deploying the system in foreign countries facing the same challenges will also contribute to Japan’s Growth Strategy.
July 2014
Isao Shimoyama
Research Director, Road Infrastructure Monitoring System (RIMS) Project
(Director of Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative (IRT),
The University of Tokyo) |
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