Potential for Sensing Technologies to Contribute to Smart Agriculture (Measures Against Salt Damage by Breeding a Rice Strain): Development of a Resistant Rice Strain to Salt Damage in Preparation for Climate Change

Tohoku University and the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization have developed a rice plant resistant to salt damage. Tohoku University and Murata Manufacturing are jointly conducting the Demonstration Experiment to Analyze the Factors Behind Salt Damage Resistance in the Surface Rooting Rice Plant Strain using soil sensors from June 2022 to March 2023. The aim of this experiment is to analyze the factors behind the salt damage resistance in that rice plant. How can sensing technologies contribute to the selective breeding of agricultural produce? We spoke with Eiko Hanzawa, a technical specialist at Tohoku University involved in research, about an overview of rice plants with salt damage resistance and the utilization of sensing technologies.

• Agriculture
• Researcher Interview
• DX
• Sensors
• Soil sensor

How Will Murata’s Soil Sensors Change Agriculture? Smarter Watering Management for Greenhouse Horticulture, Fruit Growing, and Outdoor Cultivation

Isn’t one of the ideals of agriculture to maintain sustainability with a good balance between cultural development, the environment, the economy, living things, and communities? Murata Manufacturing has started the mass production of high-performance soil sensors that contribute to the realization of that ideal.

• Agriculture
• Researcher Interview
• DX
• Sensors
• Soil sensor

Bringing humans and machines even closer with sensors and AI

Using BMI to operate machinery like your own limbs without any manipulation

Technologies that can detect brainwaves and what someone is thinking are rapidly advancing. The possibility of putting a BMI (Brain–Machine Interface) used as an interface for connecting a human being with machinery into practical use is emerging. This article introduces the trends in BMI evolution and the impact of this technology.

• Sensors
• AI

Smart Factories: Giving Form to Digital Transformation in the Manufacturing Industry

From automation to autonomy and collaboration, manufacturing robots are advancing to become smarter

Robots used in plants are becoming smarter and more advanced. They are not simply automating routine tasks but independently performing situation-specific tasks, and moving in a coordinated manner with the movements of people. This article introduces scenarios in which cutting-edge robots are used and the roles that they play using automobile and semiconductor plants as examples.

• Smart Factory
• Robot
• DX
• IoT
• AI
• Sensors

Potential for Sensing Technologies to Contribute to Smart Agriculture (Restoration of Agricultural Land in Tohoku): Power of Soil Sensors to Facilitate the Acquisition of Big Data in Agriculture

The tsunami resulting from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 caused extensive damage to agricultural land in Japan. There were concerns about salt damage to crops due to seawater intrusion. Therefore, desalination work on the affected agricultural land was carried out over a wide area as part of the project to recover from the disaster. A demonstration test was also conducted to observe the salinity utilizing soil sensors on agricultural land after desalination. What is the potential for sensing technologies to contribute to agriculture? We spoke with Hitoshi Kanno, a former associate professor at the Graduate School of Tohoku University, about an overview of the desalination work and the utilization of sensing technologies in smart agriculture.

• Agriculture
• Researcher Interview
• DX
• Sensors
• Soil sensor

3D City Models Accelerate the Creation of Smart Cities and Digital Twins, Data-Driven Efforts in Electronics

Sophisticated 3D city models are indispensable for creating smart cities and digital twins. Many countries are developing and establishing open data compatible with the international standard CityGML. This article presents various applications of sophisticated 3D city models—including city planning, disaster prevention planning, and simulating the installation and operation of electronic equipment—using Plateau, Japan’s CityGML-compatible 3D city model considered to be the most extensive in the world.

• Smart City
• Digital twin
• DX
• Sensors
• Data-driven
• VR/AR

Digital Technologies That Realize the Diversification of Primary Industries

The diversification of primary industries refers to the aim to have producers (primary industries) also perform processing (secondary industries) and distribution and sales (tertiary industries) in order to diversify their management. The purpose of this is to curb price fluctuations with the wholesale of produce to increase added value and to improve the income of producers while revitalizing regions at the same time.

• Agriculture
• IoT
• Sensors

Today's Evolving Beauty Tech

The number of people working from home and taking part in online meetings is increasing. This has led to an increase in the number of women omitting makeup, which until then had been a part of their daily routine. Against this backdrop, products referred to as "beauty tech" that utilize AI, IoT, and other technologies are breathing new life into the cosmetics industry.

• AI
• Sensors
• IoT

Considering Air Quality to Reduce the Risk of COVID Infection (Part 2)—How to choose CO2 sensors to visualize air quality

For society to recover and progress in this post-pandemic era, we need to reduce the risk of infection at schools, offices, and other places where people gather. As indicators of the quality of ventilation, CO2 sensors should be chosen with care.

• CO2 sensors
• Developer Interview
• COVID-19
• Sensors
• Education

Considering Air Quality to Reduce the Risk of COVID Infection (Part 1)—Measuring CO2 Concentration to Visualize Air Quality and Ensure Proper Ventilation

For society to recover and progress in this post-pandemic era, we need to reduce the risk of infection at schools, offices, and other places where people gather. To achieve this, we must avoid the three Cs: closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings. Toward that end, ventilation is especially important for preventing airborne infections. A new method of discerning and announcing the proper timing for ventilation is gaining attention: using CO2 sensors to visualize air quality.

• CO2 sensors
• Developer Interview
• COVID-19
• Sensors
• Solution