Murata - Innovator in Electronics Articles

What Soil Sensors Bring to African Agriculture: Tokyo International Conference on African Development 2025 (TICAD9)

Murata Manufacturing exhibited traffic counters, soil sensors, CO2 sensors, and other products at the TICAD Business Expo and Conference held in conjunction with the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9). In this article, we highlight the necessity for the effective use of the natural resource that is the soil through an overview of the features and issues of African agriculture, and the initiatives of companies taking on the challenge of solving these issues by using the latest IoT technologies.

  • Soil sensor
  • Agriculture
  • DX
  • Sensors

Murata Aims for a Society That Utilizes Fatigue/Stress Visualization Through Co-creation with Academia and the Education Sector

Work-style reform is underway in schools, a setting often considered the "last sanctuary." Amidst this, there is a growing national need for efficient and effective mental health measures for teachers, who lead busy daily lives that include juggling classes, individualized student guidance, detailed parent communication, and extracurricular activities. As a company selected for KUMIHIMO Tech Camp with Murata in fiscal 2023, EduTechnology used Murata's MF100 Fatigue Stress Meter to create case studies on teacher mental health support, and to promote the visualization of fatigue and stress levels in educational settings as part of optimizing school management. We asked the key people involved to discuss this three-part collaboration between the educational field, academia (including Kitasato University), and Murata.

  • Co-Creation
  • MF100 Fatigue Stress Meter
  • Healthcare
  • Health Tech

Sensing Using LF Communication to Improve the Safe Traveling Performance of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)

AMRs are transportation robots that autonomously select and travel on optimal routes. There is a growing need for AMRs in logistics warehouses, manufacturing sites, and elsewhere. In this article, we will take a look at the effectiveness of utilizing sensing using LF communication to address issues such as sensor malfunctions and missed detections caused by blind spots in AMRs.

  • Wireless communication
  • Position Measurement
  • Distance Measurement

The Need for Reuse, Repurposing, and Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries (LiB) and for Battery Characterization and Degradation Diagnosis

Lithium-ion batteries (LiB) are used in various fields, but the disposal of degraded batteries can have an adverse environmental impact and is becoming a social issue, so it is hoped that the reuse of materials and batteries can help to alleviate this problem. In this article, we explain the mechanisms of lithium-ion battery degradation and the battery characterization and degradation diagnosis methods essential for understanding the battery state.

  • Li-ion batteries

Murata Booth Report from the Japan Mobility Show 2025: Aiming for a Future Society Where Mobility Solutions and Robots Draw Closer to People

Murata Manufacturing ("Murata") exhibited at the Japan Mobility Show 2025, a show that introduces the latest technologies, etc., in the mobility industry. To learn more, we spoke with a Murata manager in charge about the thoughts behind this exhibit and the future of mobility and robots envisioned by Murata.

  • Mobility
  • Automotive
  • Gyro Sensors
  • Automated Driving

The Vision for Next-Generation Manufacturing of Murata's Distributed Exhaust Circulation One-by-one VOC Removal System - Simultaneously Reducing Environmental Impact and Costs

The compact VOC removal system aims to achieve annual energy savings of approximately 20 million yen per drying equipment unit. Through a "one-by-one" distributed installation for each production equipment unit, the system significantly decreases energy use for cleanroom temperature and humidity adjustment, reduces the environmental impact, increases factory efficiency, and enables layout flexibility. This article describes how Murata overcame technical challenges such as developing miniature, high-efficiency rotors and introduces the story behind the system's development.

  • Co-Creation
  • Decarbonization
  • Carbon neutrality

Data Science × Murata

Case Study of Masking Personally Identifiable Information Using Generative AI - Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence 2025

As a company that is accelerating the business utilization and application of data science, Murata Manufacturing participated in the 2025 conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (JSAI), continuing its involvement from 2024. In addition to explaining the content of the presentation given at JSAI 2025 by Yamaguchi of Murata Manufacturing, this article also introduces the data scientists who are working on generative AI at the company.

  • DX
  • AI
  • Generative AI
  • Developer Interview

Data Science × Murata

Take a Behind-the-scenes Look at the In-house Development and Future Outlook for the "Murata Coworker" Generative AI Product With the Product Manager - Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, 2025

Murata Manufacturing internally developed and released the "Murata Coworker" generative AI product in October 2024, and roughly 27,000 employees in total are using the product in their work. The company reported the results of their efforts at the Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, 2025. In this article, Product Manager Koganei provides a behind-the-scenes look at the development and operation of Murata Coworker and discusses the future outlook for this product.

  • DX
  • AI
  • Generative AI
  • Developer Interview

SDGs×Murata

Scope 3 Category 4 Reduction Measures - Taking On the Challenge to Both Increase Environmental Value and Reduce Costs Through Logistics and Packaging

This article introduces Murata Manufacturing's initiatives to reduce emissions falling under Scope 3 Category 4 (Upstream transportation and distribution). Murata Manufacturing has set a target of reducing overall Scope 3 GHG emissions by 27.5% by 2030 compared to fiscal 2019. As part of these efforts, we are promoting a variety of measures such as initiatives to reduce Category 4 emissions, including modal shifts, joint transportation using EV trucks, and improvements in packaging materials. Here, we explain the details of specific initiatives and future prospects.

  • Logistics
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Carbon neutrality
  • Decarbonization

DX×Murata: The future of manufacturing that is evolving through DX

Fully Restoring Production Capacity Four Months After an Earthquake - The Comprehensive Strength of Murata Which Supported the Recovery

On January 1, 2024, Wakura Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. suffered severe damage due to the Noto Peninsula earthquake. Despite facing severe damage including liquefaction and equipment damage, the plant fully restored its production capacity in just four months. In this article, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the recovery project.

  • Smart Factory
  • DX

AUV (Underwater Drone) Utilization and Underwater Communication Technology

As undersea resources are attracting attention around the world, underwater drones are increasingly being used to survey those resources. In particular, there is great interest in the potential of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) capable of fully autonomous navigation. How do AUVs operate underwater where radio waves cannot reach? In this article, we will explain the technology of underwater communication that is essential for AUV operation.

  • Wireless communication
  • Position Measurement
  • Distance Measurement

Protecting Fetuses with Ultrasound Examinations - Aiming for "Anytime, Anyone, Easily"

Gifts Inc., the winner of the top award at the fiscal 2024 KUMIHIMO Tech Camp with Murata, is developing a revolutionary fetal examination system that instantly captures ultrasound images from multiple angles. This innovation promises to solve various challenges associated with traditional fetal ultrasound examinations. We spoke with Dr. Ogasawara, CEO of Gifts Inc., about the development process, future prospects, and their experiences with and hopes for the KUMIHIMO program.

  • Co-Creation
  • Healthcare
  • Developer Interview

Osaka-Kansai Expo

The Forty-year Journey of Femtet, the CAE Software that Continues to Support Murata Manufacturing's Product Development with FEM Analysis

For approximately 40 years, Murata Manufacturing has been utilizing CAE software that was developed in-house to support its development and design efforts. This CAE software is called "Femtet" and is based on the finite element method, which supports eight fields of analysis including stress, electromagnetic waves, and fluids. Femtet has also been commercially available outside of Murata since 2008. This article discusses the development of Femtet and the motivation for making it commercially available, as well as the reasons why even by non-specialist engineers can use it effectively.

  • CAE software
  • Finite element method

Osaka-Kansai Expo

Osaka-Kansai Expo Technical Article - Murata Introduces a Series of New Technologies to Turn the Expo into a Testing Ground for the Society of the Future

Murata Manufacturing is demonstrating the echorb Wonder Stones at the Osaka-Kansai Expo's Better Co-Being signature pavilion. This article introduces the struggles and innovations behind their development as well as future prospects for Murata's heartbeat detection and position detection technologies that are paving the way to the society of the future.

  • Developer Interview
  • Sensors

Osaka-Kansai Expo

Osaka-Kansai Expo Technical Article - Vibrating Stones Guide Expo Visitors & The Future of Murata as Seen Through the 3DHaptics Technology of MIRAISENS

Murata Manufacturing is demonstrating the echorb Wonder Stones at the Osaka-Kansai Expo's Better Co-Being signature pavilion. This article introduces the challenges and ingenuity behind their development as well as the future prospects for the 3DHaptics technologies used in the echorb, which creates an illusion in users' brains that make them feel as if they are being pulled.

  • Haptics
  • Developer Interview

SDGs×Murata

The GHG Protocol: Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG Emission Reductions Companies Must Reach to Achieve Carbon Neutrality

Efforts to achieve carbon neutrality are now an inescapable responsibility for companies. To reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs), they must not only take steps as business entities, but also collaborate with others throughout their entire supply chains. This article introduces the frameworks and specific initiatives we deploy in an effort to reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHGs.

  • Carbon neutrality
  • Renewable energy
  • Decarbonization

Technologies and Ideas for Realizing a More Comfortable Society Through Wireless Power Supply (Wireless Power Transfer)

Wireless power supply is a technology that is expected to be used in a wide range of fields such as mobile devices, industrial IoT devices, EVs and other mobility fields, and medical instruments. This article introduces the future vision for wireless power supply, cavity resonance-enabled WPT, one of the wireless power supply technologies being researched and developed by Murata Manufacturing, as well as ideas for applying this technology.

  • Li-ion batteries
  • Wireless power supply
  • IoT
  • IIoT
  • Smart Factory
  • Logistics
  • Electric Vehicle (EV)
  • Mobility

Digital Twin Utilization Scenarios That Will Change the Way Industries Work

The digital twin technique of producing new value by linking a real space (physical space) and a digital space (cyberspace) is attracting attention. This is a technology to capture data from a real space and then reproduce it in high precision in a digital space. It makes it possible to predict and simulate what will occur in the real space. We explain here how digital twins are being applied and what kind of effects they produce.

  • Digital twin

Providing Components and Solutions for the Automobile Society of the Future: Murata Manufacturing at the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2025

Murata Manufacturing participated at the Automotive Engineering Exposition, Japan's largest automotive technology exhibition, on May 21, 2025. We unveiled products, technologies, and more that will contribute to improving the reliability of EVs. We will take a look here at some of the notable items we exhibited and our solutions business for mobility.

  • Mobility
  • Automotive
  • Electric Vehicle (EV)
  • IoT
  • Li-ion batteries
  • MF100 Fatigue Stress Meter
  • Traffic Counter System

Heat risk prevention Devices - Strengthening the Quality Control Process with AMR Sensor-based Power Control - Biodata Bank

Due to the impact of global warming and other factors, the importance of heat risk prevention has increased in recent years. Biodata Bank, a company that develops and sells wearable devices for heat risk prevention, utilized AMR sensors from Murata Manufacturing in its inspection process for finished products, to achieve a high level of quality control. We spoke with the company about why they adopted AMR sensors, how they are used, what they gained from co-creation with Murata Manufacturing, their plans for future co-creation, etc.

  • Co-Creation
  • Healthcare
  • Sensors

Optimizing the usage of renewable energy, Murata has developed Integrated Renewable Energy Control Solution.

The climate crisis is becoming more serious. Under these circumstances, various places are introducing renewable energy. However, there are many challenges to ensuring a stable supply of energy. Effective energy management is required. Murata Manufacturing's efinnos is an integrated renewable energy control solution that utilizes AI to eliminate the gap between supply and demand. Those in charge of developing efinnos, which has already built up a proven track record of operation, explain here its features and future prospects.

  • Carbon neutrality
  • Decarbonization

Increasing Power Consumption Makes Greening a Necessity: Technologies to Realize Sustainable Data Centers

Further improvement in processing power is being required of data centers. On the other hand, improving the processing power of data centers is becoming impossible without the introduction of power consumption reducing technologies and effective measures against heat generation. We explain in this article the low power consumption technologies and effective heat dissipation technologies being introduced into the latest data centers.

  • Data centers

From General-purpose to Dedicated: Data Centers of the Future with Increasingly Diverse Processing Functions

Data centers are being utilized for a wider range of applications year by year. The functions required for the information processing systems introduced into data centers are changing in terms of the quality of the required calculation processing in line with those changes in how data centers are being used. In addition, the roles of the processors responsible for processing are becoming increasingly segmented. We explain in this article the functions of information processing systems in data centers with a focus on the processors that serve as the brain for information processing.

  • Data centers

Semiconductors, Networks, Cooling, and Various Other Component Technologies That Make Up Data Centers

This article focuses on the hardware aspects of the components and technologies used in data centers, which have become the infrastructure for supporting a digital society. It clarifies the differences in design philosophy with PCs and other information devices used by individuals and explains the technologies that ensure the reliability needed by data centers to operate continuously 24 hours a day, 365 days a year so that countless users can perform various tasks.

  • Data centers

Role of Data Centers as Digital Society Infrastructure in Supporting the Development of AI

This article explains the significance of data centers, which have become critical infrastructure for supporting a digital society. It also clarifies their benefits, which cannot be achieved through the use of information-processing equipment alone, while also discussing their role in supporting a society that promotes DX (digital transformation). In addition, it also addresses issues for the further evolution of data centers.

  • Data centers

What Is Digital Data? The Basics of Digital Communication

The spread of PCs and the Internet has led to the rapid development of the digital society since the mid-1990s, and with the appearance of digital devices such as smartphones, it can be said that digital has become a natural part of society. Here we discuss matters related to digital technology, which can be considered the foundation of our current society and lives, such as the types, characteristics, and units of quantity of digital data.

  • Digital data
  • Wireless communication

Automotive Communication Technology That Supports the Safety and Promotes the Spread of Digital Keys

Keys, which are essential for accessing vehicles, have evolved over time from traditional physical keys to keyless entry systems and smart keys. Currently, digital keys are being developed to adapt to emerging mobility concepts like CASE. In this article, we will outline the fundamental concepts of digital keys and the communication technologies that enable their functionalities.

  • MaaS
  • Automotive
  • Smartphone
  • Intelligent mobility
  • CASE
  • Mobility

PRODUCT FOCUS

High and medium voltage low-loss laminated ceramic capacitors ideal for automotive OBC, wireless power transmission, and server power supplies: Applications in LC and LLC resonant circuits

This article introduces high and medium voltage low-loss multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) that are optimal for resonant circuits used in automotive OBCs, wireless power transmission, and servers. It provides a detailed explanation of the characteristics and selection criteria when utilizing these capacitors in high-power LC and LLC resonant circuits, which have been increasingly prevalent in recent years.

  • Capacitor
  • Ceramic Capacitor
  • Electric Vehicle (EV)
  • Automotive

Broadening Utilization of Point Cloud Data: The Development, Widespread Adoption, and Many Applications of Devices Such as LiDAR-Equipped Scanners

The concept of the point cloud has taken hold as part of the essential technological foundations that support aspects of social infrastructure such as construction, civil engineering, and manufacturing, and currently there is growing interest in the practical application of three-dimensional point clouds in particular. This article explains ways that AI can be used for analysis of three-dimensional point clouds that have the potential to contribute to infrastructure in a wide variety of ways, presents example applications, etc.

  • Point Cloud Data
  • AI
  • LiDAR

Future Society Supported by Generative AI

Automatic Development of Advanced Devices and Systems with Generative AI That Manipulates Development Languages

Generative AI can now manipulate programming languages that describe software, electronic circuits, and more, enabling the automatic development of advanced devices and systems simply by specifying broad development goals. Efforts are also being made to integrate similar generative AI capabilities into devices to create robots that can operate optimally in varying situations. Here we highlight the trends in utilizing generative AI for device development and enhancing robot sophistication.

  • AI

Future Society Supported by Generative AI

Foundational models accelerating the development of innovative new materials

This article explains the trend and impact of applying foundational models, which are the underlying technology of linguistic generative AI, to Materials Informatics (MI), a method for developing new materials utilizing data science, to effectively and efficiently create AI models for development. When used effectively by developers with a knowledge of materials development, this approach enables them to shorten the development time for new materials and explore unknown substances that were previously not subject to experimentation.

  • AI