Sendai, Miyagi Pref., March 16 (Jiji Press)—Since the March 2011 disaster, efforts have been underway by municipalities and companies in Japan to utilize drones in disaster responses, to survey damage and transport relief supplies.
In addition, progress has been made on the development of robots that can operate in places that people cannot access in the event of disasters.
The city government of Sendai in the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi is testing a speaker-equipped drone to send evacuation warnings from the sky.
Drones have softer propeller noises than helicopters, allowing evacuation warnings to be sent much more clearly, city officials said.
In Sendai’s system, a drone will automatically take flight after receiving a warning from the country’s J-Alert early warning system and send evacuation messages to local residents.
(Photo courtesy Sendai City Government)
(Photo courtesy Sendai City Government)
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