The “Drone × AI Demonstration Project Combining Overview and Detailed Inspections to Realize ‘No Entry’ Operations” project, which is being proposed by a joint research consortium comprising Nihon Suido Consultants Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: NAKANISHI Shinji); Liberaware Co., Ltd.; KANSEI Company; Acuity Inc.; and the City of Chiba, has been chosen as part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s FY2026 Innovative Integrated Water and Sewerage Technology Demonstration Project (AB-Cross Project).

Through this demonstration project, we are seeking to advance and automate sewer pipeline inspections and realize sustainable, safe infrastructure maintenance management by transforming conventional inspection methods that rely heavily on manual labor.

Overview

The demonstration project, which focuses on drones capable of operating in confined spaces and high-water-level environments within sewer pipelines, combines enhanced in-pipe imaging with AI-based analysis technologies to establish inspection methods that enable more accurate and efficient deterioration assessment than conventional qualitative evaluations. In addition, by improving flight endurance and environmental performance, the project will expand applicability to long-distance pipelines and difficult-to-inspect sections, contributing to more sophisticated sewer pipeline maintenance management and helping establish a framework for safe, sustainable inspections.

Operational image of the sewer inspection process

Background and challenges

Flying drones are increasingly used in sewer pipeline inspections as an effective technology for accessing difficult-to-reach areas and improving safety. However, current drone inspections are still primarily limited to visual assessment based on video footage, and technical challenges remain in quantitative diagnostics, including numerical evaluation of crack width and progression of deterioration, and in identifying areas with abnormal conditions in a highly accurate manner.

Objective

The project seeks to realize sewer pipeline inspections with limited or zero human site access (“no entry” operations) and to standardize related technologies by leveraging the IBIS2 indoor inspection drone and AI technologies. In particular, the project will focus on advancing crack-width measurement functionality and positioning capabilities to expand applicability to difficult-to-inspect pipeline sections and improve diagnostic accuracy.

Plan

• Phase 1
  Using actual sewer pipelines in the City of Chiba, the project will quantitatively evaluate the current performance of the IBIS2 indoor inspection drone, including flight stability, endurance, image quality, and positioning accuracy, and identify related technical constraints.
• Phase 2
  Based on the identified challenges, the project team will enhance the drone, control systems, imaging functionality, and analytical capabilities and carry out additional demonstrations under equivalent conditions.

Project organization

Leveraging our expertise in planning, design, and maintenance management in the water and sewerage sector, we will evaluate and provide feedback on AI-based deterioration diagnostics and image analysis results while verifying the effectiveness with which these technologies can be applied to pipeline condition assessment and preventive maintenance planning. Through these efforts, we will promote the advanced utilization of maintenance management data and support implementation on the ground in municipal operations.

Through this demonstration project, we will continue to work to realize sustainable water infrastructure management and look forward to helping build a prosperous and sustainable future society.

Reference

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism:

Overview of Demonstration Technologies for the FY2026 AB-Cross Project