3D Wind Data Over Expo Venue to Ensure Safety of Flying Cars, Drones

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:47 JST, May 7, 2023

OSAKA — In a bid to ensure the safe operation of flying cars and drones expected to be used during the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, an experiment has begun to test the conversion of measured wind movements over the venue into visual data that can be used in real time.

The experiment is a joint effort by the Osaka Business Development Agency, an organization for supporting local businesses, and Metro Weather Co., a Kyoto University-launched startup based in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture.

A dedicated measuring device detects and tracks dust particles in the air using infrared sensing and instantly analyzes their movements to calculate wind direction and velocity, which is then converted into 3D data.

The entities have already placed instruments on the roof of the Asia and Pacific Trade Center, located approximately 3 kilometers southeast of Yumeshima, the man-made island where the event will be held, and have begun observations in a radius of 10 to 15 kilometers. In the future, they will increase the number of instruments and expand the observation area.

Combining the obtained 3D data with statistical data of seasonal wind movements and weather forecasts, they plan to provide information for flying cars and drones during the Expo.

“Reading wind conditions has been largely dependent on pilots,” said Metro Weather President Junichi Furumoto. “We would like to use the Expo as an opportunity to develop infrastructure related to measuring wind.”