The look of the drone by Nokia, ready to be tested in Sendai for various natural disaster scenarios. (Image via NokiaMob)

Sendai with Nokia test drone to mitigate tsunami

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Sci-Tech
Nov 12, 2019
1497
On Tuesday, Nokia successfully held trial tests on its drones in natural disaster scenarios, one of which was for tsunami, in the Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. On the tests, held on 9 – 12 November, the drones’ functionality in times of natural occurrences was tested. The test fell on the same period with the World Disaster Prevention Forum, also held in Sendai.

The site used for the test near the Minami-Gamo Water Treatment Center. Showcasing the fidelity of its network, the test was sponsored by Nokia’s “plug-and-play” digital automation cloud technology in a private LTE network.

These drones were equipped with gadgets such as thermal cameras, HD cameras, and speakers. The speakers were used to record and broadcast real-time warnings for the Japanese residents in coastal areas. Meanwhile, the drones’ cameras will monitor the movement of the evacuees and guide them to the evacuation point.

Sendai was one of the areas in the Tohoku region hit the hardest by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The tsunami, flowing at 700km/h, killed more than 19,000 people in its wake. At that time, the people residing in Sendai only had an 8 – 10 minutes warning.

The mayor of Sendai, Kazuko Kohri, hailed the test by her city and Nokia. With aid from drones, Kohri expected the mitigation for future natural disasters would be easier and faster.

In 2019, Nokia has landed deals for 5G network trials with telecommunication providers in Japan such as KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, and SoftBank. The deal came after Japan, showing its support to its ally the United States (U.S), restricted any public procurement deal with Chinese technology companies.

Source: https://zd.net/33FRP1A

Science , Technology , Telecommunication , Disaster , Mitigation , Asia , Japan , Sendai , Nokia , Drone