Development of Autonomous Flight Drone Technology for Railway Environments

Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) and Sensyn Robotics are jointly developing and validating autonomous drone technology for railway environments to enhance safety and modernize infrastructure maintenance. To address the diverse environmental conditions unique to railways, they have developed flight control technology that allows a single drone to fly continuously along tracks by combining multiple autonomous flight modes. The partners are moving forward with development and validation toward practical use to streamline and advance railway infrastructure maintenance.

1. Overview
Railway tracks contain a sequence of vastly different environments, including areas where GNSS (satellite positioning) is available, as well as tunnels, dense vegetation, and level crossings. To navigate these, three flight modes were developed:

- GNSS Mode: 25m altitude, 6m/s speed. For wide-area surveys. Requires pre-set flight paths.
- Rail Following Mode: 2m altitude, 2m/s speed. Low-altitude rail following. No path setting required. Suitable for non-GNSS environments.
- Tunnel Mode: 2m altitude, 1m/s speed. Low-altitude flight. Stable in non-GNSS spaces. Automatic mode switching via structure recognition.

By automatically switching between these modes, a single drone can perform continuous autonomous flight.

2. Significance
This technology provides a new means to complement on-site situational awareness, expected to be utilized for safety inspections during abnormal weather events and remote autonomous inspection of railway structures.

3. Future Outlook
Continued technical development and verification will proceed, including considerations for operational and safety standards. The companies aim to build a sustainable development and operation framework, potentially collaborating with other railway operators and related companies to improve maintenance overall.