NEC Facilities Begins Demonstration Experiment of Robot-Based Equipment Inspection at New Building of NEC Tamagawa Plant
NEC Facilities has commenced a demonstration experiment for electrical equipment patrol inspections using ugo Co., Ltd.'s "ugo mini" robot at the new building of NEC Tamagawa Plant. This initiative aims to improve the efficiency of inspection operations and address labor shortages, verifying a new form of facility management through human-robot collaboration.
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- 📰 Published: March 31, 2026 at 20:07
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NEC Facilities, Ltd. (hereinafter NEC Facilities, Note 1) has commenced a demonstration experiment for robots conducting electrical equipment patrol inspections at the "NEC Innovation New Building (tentative name)" scheduled to open in April at the NEC Tamagawa Plant (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture). This demonstration experiment utilizes "ugo mini" from ugo Co., Ltd. (hereinafter ugo, Note 2), a startup engaged in the development of business DX robots.
In this demonstration experiment, robots autonomously navigate within the building where electrical equipment is arranged, reading meters of different specifications installed along the inspection route with a camera. The acquired data is automatically registered in a database and utilized for recording and managing inspection results. Through this, the company will verify that patrol inspections, traditionally handled by two people, can be performed by "one person + robot." As the person in charge can engage in other tasks while the robot is patrolling, the aim is to improve the efficiency of equipment inspection operations through human-robot collaboration.
NEC Facilities primarily targets factories and data centers for semiconductors, electronic components, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles, offering IFM (Integrated Facility Management) that comprehensively connects three businesses: construction, environment, and facility management. In recent years, facility management sites have faced demands for advanced operations through the digitalization of inspection tasks, in addition to addressing labor shortages and maintaining/improving safety and quality. Particularly for electrical equipment patrol inspections, the challenge has been to streamline inspection work, which involves visually checking multiple widely dispersed meters and recording/transcribing the results.
This demonstration experiment is jointly conducted under NEC's open innovation initiative, with the participation of NEC Solution Innovators (Note 3), which possesses expertise in the field of robot autonomous driving software. NEC Facilities plans to conduct similar demonstration experiments at its training and R&D center, "FM-Base®," in the future.
Moving forward, NEC Facilities will consider introducing this system to facility management sites after verifying the effects of operational efficiency improvements by expanding the scope of equipment and inspection areas for robot-based inspections, based on the results of the demonstration.
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*"FM-Base" is a registered trademark of NEC Facilities, Ltd.
(Note 1) Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and Executive Officer President: Eiji Ozaki
(Note 2) Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Ken Matsui
In this demonstration experiment, robots autonomously navigate within the building where electrical equipment is arranged, reading meters of different specifications installed along the inspection route with a camera. The acquired data is automatically registered in a database and utilized for recording and managing inspection results. Through this, the company will verify that patrol inspections, traditionally handled by two people, can be performed by "one person + robot." As the person in charge can engage in other tasks while the robot is patrolling, the aim is to improve the efficiency of equipment inspection operations through human-robot collaboration.
NEC Facilities primarily targets factories and data centers for semiconductors, electronic components, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles, offering IFM (Integrated Facility Management) that comprehensively connects three businesses: construction, environment, and facility management. In recent years, facility management sites have faced demands for advanced operations through the digitalization of inspection tasks, in addition to addressing labor shortages and maintaining/improving safety and quality. Particularly for electrical equipment patrol inspections, the challenge has been to streamline inspection work, which involves visually checking multiple widely dispersed meters and recording/transcribing the results.
This demonstration experiment is jointly conducted under NEC's open innovation initiative, with the participation of NEC Solution Innovators (Note 3), which possesses expertise in the field of robot autonomous driving software. NEC Facilities plans to conduct similar demonstration experiments at its training and R&D center, "FM-Base®," in the future.
Moving forward, NEC Facilities will consider introducing this system to facility management sites after verifying the effects of operational efficiency improvements by expanding the scope of equipment and inspection areas for robot-based inspections, based on the results of the demonstration.
End
*"FM-Base" is a registered trademark of NEC Facilities, Ltd.
(Note 1) Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and Executive Officer President: Eiji Ozaki
(Note 2) Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Ken Matsui