MITSUI E&S : Participates Automatic Drone Flight Inspection Using Drone Snap (an Automatic Flight Route Creation Application) at Asakusa Hanayashiki , Japan's Oldest Amusement Park

MITSUI E&S Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Takeyuki Takahashi, "MITSUI E&S"), ZENRIN DataCom Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku,Tokyo, President: Tatsuhiko Shimizu, "ZENRIN DataCom"), SkyBridge Inc.(Headquarters: Saitama City, Saitama, Co-Representatives: Hayato Kobayashi, Masato Kobayashi, "SkyBridge") and TSUBAKIMOTO KOGYO CO., LTD. (Headquarters: Osaka City, Osaka, President: Masashi Koda, "TSUBAKIMOTO KOGYO") have jointly conducted an automatic drone flight inspection using Drone Snap at Asakusa Hanayashiki, the oldest amusement part in Japan.

Asakusa Hanayashiki faced challenges inspecting the approximately 60-meterhigh "Space Shot," which was closed in 2022. Although it has been closed, Space Shot is an important facility and a symbol of Asakusa Hanayashiki, and continued maintenance and conservation are indispensable. In the past, workers used ladders to climb up to 60 meters above the ground to perform inspections. This raised concerns about worker safety, while the side of the Space Shot where workers cannot reach by ladders was inadequately inspected.

To solve this problem, SkyBridge created high-precision 3D point cloud data of Space Shot. Based on the data, automatic flight of the drone and automatic shooting of the inspection points were performed using Drone Snap, which MITSUI E&S and ZENRIN DataCom have jointly developed. After the inspection, the shooting results were evaluated and it was demonstrated that the results were sufficiently accurate to inspect the equipment.

◆ Drone inspection video: https://youtu.be/ha7QOpL6mE4

◆ Images of verification details and results
◆ Comments from Mr. Ohyagi, Assistant Manager, Facility Safety Division,
Mr. Nozoe, Asakusa Hanayashiki

"When I actually conducted the drone inspection, I thought that the video was very clear and genuinely amazing. I could imagine that inspections like this would become more common. I am looking forward to seeing how the range of inspections expands based on drone images and survey data.
In fact, I was surprised by the process in which a reproducible mechanism was completed in front of my eyes by fine-tuning the Drone Snap on site. For example, in addition to being able to fine-tune the inspection point immediately on site, when the automatic flight speed of the drone seems to be a little high, the speed can be reduced on the spot. The response to remove even the slightest anxiety of the customer was very reassuring to me as a maintenance officer.
I believe that automatic flight inspections are a technology that will expand in the future, so I would like to exchange information with other amusement parks in the hope that it will become more active, along with the use of surveying technology."

◆ Mitsui E&S HP (Introduction of Drone Snap and Drone Snap Cloud)
https://www.mes.co.jp/business/crane/dronesnap.html

Drone Snap is an application developed by MITSUI E&S and ZENRIN DataCom. This application is equipped with functions such as reading 3D models and point cloud data of the equipment to be inspected and creating automatic flight routes for drones, and can be used to inspect and patrol all large facilities. It is also compatible with a wide range of drone models.
Images automatically taken by drones can be stored in the cloud along with inspection results using MITSUI E&S's product CARMS, a next-generation remote monitoring system for port cranes, and Drone Snap Cloud, a drone image management tool for infrastructure facilities in general.
These tools and drone snaps were jointly developed by MITSUI E&S and Mitsui E&S Systems Research Inc., a group company. MITSUI E&S is also currently developing a technology that enables the automatic quantitative evaluation of the presence or absence of rust and the amount of rust (quantifying the amount of rust in the inspection area) through analysis of the captured images.
The MITSUI E&S Group will continue to contribute to resolving issues facing a society with a declining population through the use of digital technology.

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