Sony Mobile und der japanische Roboterhersteller ZMP geben die Gründung des Joint-Ventures „Aerosense Inc“. bekannt, das autonome Fluggeräte für die Luftbildfotografie entwickeln und produzieren soll. Sony steuert die Kameras und Verbindungstechnologien bei, ZMP bringt das Know-How für die automatische Steuerung mit ein.

Foto: Fotodrohne

So könnte die erste gemeinsame Fotodrohne von Sony Mobile und ZMP aussehen. (Bild: ZMP Inc.)
 

Ziel der gemeinsamen Tochter „Aerosense Inc“. ist die Entwicklung und Produktion von Geschäftslösungen für die vollautomatische Luftbildfotografie sowie die Cloud-basierte Verarbeitung der dabei gewonnenen Bilddaten. Das haben Sony Mobile und ZMP in einer gemeinsamen Pressemitteilung bekannt gegeben. Bereits Anfang 2016 sollen die geplanten Produkte und Services für Geschäftskunden angeboten werden.

Pressemitteilung von Sony Mobile Communications Inc. (englisch):

Tokyo, Japan – Sony Mobile Communications Inc. (“Sony Mobile”: President and CEO Hiroki Totoki) and ZMP Inc. (“ZMP”: CEO Hisashi Taniguchi) have agreed to collaborate on the development and launch of enterprise solutions using autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles for image capture combined with cloud-based data processing. Sony Mobile and ZMP will jointly found “Aerosense Inc.,” a new company slated to be incorporated in early August of this year.

Sony’s camera, sensing, telecommunications network, and robotics technologies will be leveraged alongside ZMP’s automated driving and robotics technologies together with their business experience in industrial fields. Aerosense Inc. will combine these assets and develop comprehensive solutions that meet needs including measuring, surveying, observing, and inspecting. It will aim to roll out these services for enterprise customers beginning in 2016.

Sony Mobile is proactively engaging in new business creation initiatives, with a particular focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. This joint venture represents a part of this push into IoT, as Sony strives to provide its customers with additional value by developing and managing total package cloud solutions.

ZMP’s stated mission is “Robot of Everything: To create a safe, fun and comfortable lifestyle with robotics technology.” In line with this, ZMP has developed its automated driving technology and put it into use in various fields. To date these solutions have been limited to the ground; with this joint venture, ZMP will take to the skies and apply its expertise in an entirely different realm, as it aims to create new services that were not possible on land.

Basic information about the joint venture (planned):

Corporate name:

Aerosense Inc.

Head office:

5-41-10 Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

Date to be established:

Early August, 2015

Stated capital:

100 million yen

Capital reserve:

100 million yen

Investment ratio:

Sony Mobile Communications Inc. 50.005%
ZMP Inc. 49.995%

Officers:

Representative Director
Hisashi Taniguchi (ZMP CEO)

Director

Kohtaro Sabe

Director

Shinji Odashima
(One more Director to be appointed)

Auditor

Kaname Takashima

Business outline:

Development, manufacture, and sale of enterprise solutions using autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles for image capture combined with cloud-based data processing.

(Redaktion photoscala)