EN
Advanced Use of Robots in
Smart Buildings
Transforming Office Environments
The shrinking working population and spread of remote work triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to significant change in office environments and worker awareness. With regard to offices and commercial facilities, attention is focused on saving energy and improving user comfort and convenience inside buildings, while in terms of building maintenance, there is a growing need for smart buildings capable of raising the efficiency of management operations through DX. The landscape of next-generation buildings is particularly expected to be dramatically transformed by robot-based solutions, and efforts are underway to develop platforms for linking diverse technologies.
![[ Use of Multiple Robots in Tokyo Midtown Yaesu ]](/content/dam/nttcom/hq/en/about-us/csr/solution/2024/02/sct_img01.jpg)
Raise Efficiency and Save Labor in Building Management Operations
The Smart Data Platform for City (SDPF for City) provided by NTT Communications is a smart building platform for linking and controlling various data for facilities inside a building. The platform has been implemented in Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, a large-scale commercial complex that opened in front of Tokyo Station in March 2023, and is helping achieve cutting-edge DX for buildings.
We have been advancing the application of robots in smart buildings by providing solutions for controlling different manufacturers’ robots, which have varying capabilities, and by carrying out demonstrations to explore the coordinated control between building facilities and robots from multiple makers. Tokyo Midtown Yaesu was at the ideal stage for testing the results of these demonstrations. Currently, 19 robots from multiple manufacturers are operating together on the SDPF for City platform to reduce the labor required for building management tasks such as cleaning and delivery. We constantly monitor the location and operational status of autonomous robots moving inside the building, as well as those capable of getting on and off elevators and passing through doors on their own. This is also the first office building in Japan to use robots to operate a delivery service for office workers. Facial recognition supports completely touchless building entry and exit, while the level of congestion in commercial areas and the office lobby is analyzed from images captured from building cameras and posted on signage as well as the facilities’ official website. SDPF for City will continue to expand the potential of smart buildings by continually growing its collection of accumulated data.
Spreading Smarter Solutions from Buildings to Cities
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Tsukasa Kaeriyama
Smart City, Smart World Business,
Business Solution DivisionThe strength of SDPF for City lies in its ability to collect and analyze data and then implement improvements based on the results. By leveraging our track record in urban development and experience gained from collaborations with other industries, we hope to develop and popularize smart buildings as a multi-vendor that can deliver the optimal solutions for customer needs and create a better future by expanding the scale of our services from buildings to cities.
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Masashi Inoue
Solution Services DepartmentOur goal is to further enhance and develop services related to air conditioning management, safety, and security and increase the number of smart buildings where visitors can feel safe and work comfortably. In addition, by establishing exciting workspaces for people through the active use of robots and functions not yet imagined, we hope to energize buildings and entire cities to realize the future we have envisioned.
Note: The content of this article is as of December 2024
