FARNBOROUGH: Two start-ups from Japan’s Fukushima prefecture are showcasing drones they have developed at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow, held in Farnborough, Hampshire, southern England, from Monday to Friday.
By developing sales channels overseas, Eames Robotics and the Space Entertainment Laboratory aim to eventually mass-produce the robots in the prefecture, which has recovered from the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
This was Eames Robotics’ first time exhibiting at an overseas event. Founded in Minamisoma City in 2016, the company unveiled a test model of a rotor drone capable of carrying up to 5 kilograms of cargo, primarily intended for logistics applications.
“The response has been greater than we expected,” said the company’s president, Hideharu Soya, who expressed surprise that all of the brochures he had prepared for the first day of one of the world’s largest air shows had sold out.
Space Entertainment Laboratory, also established in Minamisoma in 2014, participated in the Paris Air Show last year, its second international event. The company’s fixed-wing drones can take off and land on water and fly without a runway.
According to company executive Takenori Hashimoto, the company’s drones are typically used for defense purposes, but there will also be demand for research and inspection purposes.
The Japanese government is working to rebuild the industrial base along the coast of Fukushima, which was hit hard by natural disasters and the nuclear accident, and robots and drones are seen as a key area of focus.
A prefectural official said, “Drones are the next generation growth industry. If we receive orders from overseas, we can also build a supply chain for production within the prefecture.”
Jiji Press
