NEC Facilities Begins Demonstration Experiment of Robot-Based Equipment Inspection at New NEC Tamagawa Plant Building

NEC Facilities, Ltd. (hereinafter "NEC Facilities," Note 1) has begun a demonstration experiment using a robot to perform routine inspections of electrical equipment at the "NEC Innovation Building (tentative name)," which is scheduled to open in April at the NEC Tamagawa Plant (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture). This demonstration experiment utilizes the "ugo mini," developed by startup ugo, Inc. (Note 2), which specializes in business DX robots.

In this demonstration, the robot autonomously navigates through the building where electrical equipment is located, using its camera to read various types of meters installed along the inspection route. The acquired data is automatically registered in a database and used for recording and managing inspection results. Through this, the company aims to verify that routine inspections, which previously required two people, can be conducted by "one person plus a robot." Since the staff member can engage in other tasks while the robot is patrolling, the company aims to streamline facility inspection operations through human-robot collaboration.

Human and robot collaborating on equipment inspection

The "ugo mini" robot used in the demonstration experiment

NEC Facilities provides Integrated Facility Management (IFM), supporting comprehensive facility management by seamlessly connecting three core businesses—construction, environment, and facility management—primarily for semiconductor/electronic component factories, pharmaceutical plants, automotive factories, and data centers. In recent years, facility management sites have faced a need to address labor shortages, maintain and improve safety and quality, and advance operations through the digitalization of inspection tasks. In particular, routine inspections of electrical equipment have faced challenges in efficiency, as they require visual confirmation, recording, and transcription of multiple meters scattered over a wide area.

This demonstration experiment is being conducted jointly with the participation of NEC Solution Innovators (Note 3), which possesses expertise in the field of autonomous robot navigation software, as part of NEC's open innovation initiatives. There are plans to conduct similar demonstration experiments at NEC Facilities' training and R&D center, "FM-Base®," in the future.

Based on the results of this demonstration, NEC Facilities will consider introducing the technology to actual facility management sites after verifying the effectiveness of operational efficiency, as well as expanding the range of equipment and areas covered by robot inspections.

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※ "FM-Base" is a registered trademark of NEC Facilities, Ltd.

(Note 1) Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Eiji Ozaki

(Note 2) Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Ken Matsui

About ugo, Inc.: https://ugo.plus/

(Note 3) Headquarters: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Takao Iwai