Fujitsu Laboratories and Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute Team Up for Joint Development of Disaster-Prevention Technologies

Kawasaki, Japan and Hsinchu City, Taiwan, January 08, 2014

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan today announced that they are collaborating in the field of disaster prevention to develop autonomous sensor-network technology that can communicate information between devices without human intervention.

While many parts of the planet are at risk from natural disasters, existing technologies for disaster mitigation and prevention, such as laser meters, have only been deployed over a limited area due to the cost of the equipment and the difficulty of maintenance.

The focus of the research collaboration is the application of disaster-prevention systems that use autonomous sensor-network technology. Fujitsu Laboratories and ITRI will work to develop technologies that will collect environmental data from a wide-area grid through numerous wireless sensors that are linked, so that even if some are knocked offline due to damage or insufficient power, the system as a whole can continue to operate. The partners are also constructing a test system, which will be field tested for disaster mitigation and prevention that targets landslides and avalanches.

Background and Technological Issues

Most of the Earth is affected by weather-related natural disasters, such as from storms and floods. Existing technologies for disaster mitigation and prevention relating to avalanches, in particular, include laser meters and high-precision strain gauges that are buried in slopes for underground measurements, both of which gather geological sensor data and analyze it for warning signs (Figure 1).

The expense of the equipment itself, however, combined with the difficulty of installing it, running cable and replacing batteries, has meant that these technologies have only been deployed over small areas, and the promise of effectively collecting data in a grid over a wide area has not yet been realized.

Figure 1. Measurements with conventional technology

Collaboration Overview

Fujitsu Laboratories and ITRI are developing technologies to collect data in a wide-area grid over an area to be monitored. Numerous sensors with onboard power generation will be linked wirelessly in an autonomously connected machine-to-machine (M2M)⁽¹⁾ network, creating a system that collects data in areas where avalanches are likely to occur (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Measurements with an autonomous sensor-network system

ITRI has primary responsibility for developing the sensor nodes, and is conducting R&D on sensors, communications networks, wireless software, and power control. Numerous sensor nodes will be placed in an area where avalanches are likely to occur, and data transmitted to servers will be analyzed with the help of civil-engineering specialists from local universities. Using its own solar antenna technology, the sensor nodes will have efficient communications and power-generation capabilities.

Fujitsu Laboratories' main area of responsibility is to develop the autonomous-control software for the sensor nodes, and conducting R&D on remote control and how to avoid errors in communications between sensors. Using distributed processing and embedded software it will create a system that allows adjacent sensors to be linked, while being able to tolerate noise in the wireless-communications channel and sensor failures. This will result in a robust system that can withstand the kinds of failures that climate change is likely to cause.

By combining the technologies that represent their respective strong suits, Fujitsu Laboratories and ITRI aim to establish the technology for autonomous sensor networks with potential applications that will ultimately extend beyond data collection and analysis systems for disaster mitigation and prevention, covering a broad array of applications.