Building a Dedicated Battery Charging Station for Drones

LGU+ Signs Business Agreement with Japan's KDDI and Taiwan's CIRC for Drone Operations
Drone Station Linked with Smart Drone Platform

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Drone-exclusive battery charging stations are being established across the country, enabling drone battery charging as freely as with electric vehicles.

On the 12th, LG Uplus announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the expansion of the smart drone business with Japan's leading telecommunications company KDDI and Taiwan's drone manufacturer CIRC.

The smart drone platform relays photos and videos captured by cameras installed on drones to devices such as smartphones and control centers via LTE and 5G communications. It allows integrated remote management of drone status information, flight plans, flight paths, and mission execution through LTE and 5G communications.

By collaborating among the three companies from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, which possess drone solutions, to connect domestic and international drone markets, it is expected that the smart drone platform will be able to expand.

CIRC has commercialized lightweight drones weighing 6 to 8 kg and drone stations. The drone stations manufactured by CIRC are devices that can automatically charge drone batteries at desired locations. Through drone stations, long-duration flights are possible even with low-cost lightweight drones, increasing the usability of drones.

The three companies plan to complete the integration of drone bodies, stations, and the smart drone platform by the end of this year and to explore various business opportunities along with demonstrations starting next year. In particular, it is expected that services such as ▲disaster site inspections for large fires and earthquakes ▲facility monitoring services for large industrial complexes will expand using drones.

Cho Wonseok, Executive Vice President of LG Uplus Corporate New Business Group, said, "Through cooperation with CIRC, highly efficient lightweight drones have been integrated with the smart drone platform," adding, "Drones utilizing the stations are also very competitive in terms of price, enabling us to provide more reasonable drone services to customers."

A KDDI official said, "We expect the drone market to expand in both Korea and Japan through this three-party MOU," and added, "In the future, we plan to create new value in the drone market by sharing a global lineup of drone bodies linked with the smart drone platform, as well as common applications and communication modules with LG Uplus."

A CIRC official said, "Through this cooperation with LG Uplus and KDDI, we have been able to expand the drone market with safer and more cost-effective remote drone control services," and added, "This MOU is the first step in a strategic partnership that can provide a competitive edge in drone services by combining CIRC’s drone bodies with 5G communication technology."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.