Testing 5G at tunnels in Hokkaido: how SoftBank aims for safer construction sites
※This is a machine-translated text of the original article.
In collaboration with Taisei Corporation, Wireless City Planning Inc. (WCP) and SoftBank Corp. announced that they had conducted demonstration tests aimed at realizing a i-Construction (*) aimed at managing the safety of workers at tunneling sites using 5G.
5G network
This experiment was carried out in December 2019 at the “Hokkaido Shinkansen, Shiribeshi Tunnel (Ochiai) etc” construction project in Yoichi district, Hokkaido.
There are many tunnels in Japan because of many mountains.
At the construction site of the tunnel, serious accidents such as falling ground, landslide, oxygen deficiency, fire, etc. may occur, and it is said that realization of a safe and secure working environment is required.
In response to these challenges, WCP has installed a portable 5G facility developed by SoftBank Corp., which can provide high-quality communications services locally, at the construction site.
By constructing 5G networks, data collection of tunneling construction sites and demonstration experiments on remote operation of construction machinery is carried out by sensors.
By this, it is expected that maintenance of the safety monitoring system of the tunnel construction site by gas sensor, etc. and remote operation of the construction machine can be carried out without any problem under the tight environment of the communication capacity.
WCP, SoftBank Corp. and Taisei will continue to explore ways to make use of 5G and IoT.
(*) Efforts to improve the productivity of the entire construction production system by introducing measures such as “full utilization of ICT (ICT earth work)” to the construction site, aiming at attractive construction sites.
Original Text: https://ampmedia.jp/2020/01/28/softbank_5g/