No.69 Disaster Response Utilizing Drones

Regarding small unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), as reported in the Inagi Newsletter August 1, 2017 issue, the Inagi City Fire Department has independently introduced them and officially started operations for disaster response and other purposes from that date.
On the other hand, on July 26, 2017, we signed an agreement with the NPO Crisis Mappers Japan regarding support activities utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles during disasters.
This agreement was concluded by the cities of Chofu and Komae in March of this year, and this time, the four cities of Fuchu, Hino, Tama City, and Inagi City have joined together.
The specific content of the agreement is that, within about one hour after a disaster occurs, before the fire department and police begin rescue operations using helicopters, the organization will operate multiple drones to investigate and record images of the disaster situation from the air. This information will be used to create a database that reflects the data on maps and will be provided to each city. Each city will be able to quickly grasp the disaster situation, utilize it for initial response, and also understand the situation in neighboring cities, which is expected to lead to mutual support.
The NPO Crisis Mappers Japan is led by Professor Daichi Furuhashi of Aoyama Gakuin University, and is engaged in activities as part of research on new uses of drones.
Drones can fly for about 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the capacity of the battery they are equipped with, and it is expected that university student volunteers will operate them, utilizing university facilities within the area of the cities with which agreements have been concluded for takeoff and landing bases. This is a collaborative effort between industry, government, and academia, including companies that develop equipment.
By the way, the collaboration in the Tamagawa River basin started in 2013 at the suggestion of the Mayor of Chofu City, involving six cities in the middle reaches of the Tamagawa River (Fuchu City, Chofu City, Komae City, Hino City, Tama City, and Inagi City). It promotes tourism and regional revitalization through information exchange and event hosting. Currently, the mayors of Ota City, Setagaya City, Kawasaki City, and Hachioji City have joined, and we are deepening collaboration with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, surrounding railway companies, and bus operators.
In the future, we will strive to expand collaboration further, adding disaster response as a purpose like this drone agreement, so that it contributes to the development of the region.