Metro Weather Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Uji, Kyoto; President & CEO: Jun-ichi Furumoto; hereinafter “Metro Weather”) and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Hideya Moridaira; hereinafter “Furukawa Electric”) has agreed to a capital and business alliance. Furukawa Electric plans to collaborate with Metro Weather through a capital investment, with a focus on advancing the production and widespread adoption of Doppler LiDAR in Japan. With this strategic alliance in capital and business, this partnership is set to amplify its efforts to promote worldwide safety and security through the broader adoption of Doppler LiDAR technology in diverse areas.

Metro Weather, which is engaged in the research and development of Doppler LiDAR for high-precision real-time wind observation, is currently promoting business development on a global scale with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Group, the Yanmar Group, among other organizations, and is attracting high expectations from various stakeholders in Japan and overseas. The company is currently conducting research and development to make Doppler LiDAR more compact and powerful, with the goal of facilitating its practical implementation in society. In line with this, Metro Weather is selecting potential mass production partners with expertise in manufacturing, quality control, and maintenance in order to be able to stably supply high-performance Japanese lasers, which are a core component, and to respond to future demand expansion.

Furukawa Electric has launched initiatives to create diverse business opportunities, particularly in the aerospace and life sciences industries, aimed at resolving social issues and achieving “Furukawa Electric Group Vision 2030”. Through the capital and business alliance with Metro Weather, Furukawa Electric will leverage its core photonics technology to develop key components for Metro Weather’s compact, high-performance Doppler LiDAR and support its production in Japan. In addition, the company aims to facilitate the creation of a large-scale production framework for Metro Weather’s compact and efficient Doppler LiDAR by leveraging its extensive manufacturing knowledge and skills, along with offering assistance through the utilization of its facilities.

This partnership aims to develop businesses across various sectors by leveraging wind condition data collected from compact, high-efficiency Doppler LiDAR, as well as a cutting-edge object detection system that is currently under refinement. The ultimate goal is to contribute to a safer and more secure global society through the widespread use of Doppler LiDAR technology.

About the Doppler Lidar by Metro Weather

Superior weight and size enable agile observation
Metro Weather’s remote sensing technology and unique signal analysis technology, which have been cultivated over many years, have achieved a level of miniaturization that is equivalent to that of other large Doppler Lidar systems (weight: 2 tons, size: approx. 2 m square, observation distance: approx. 20 km radius) while also meeting the same level of performance.
Metro Weather Doppler LiDAR
Weight: 180 kg
Size: 60 cm × 74 cm × 106 cm
Observation distance: Maximum radius 15 km
*The specifications mentioned above refer to the current model, and the ongoing research and development of a miniaturized, high-performance Doppler LiDAR aims to be even smaller and more powerful.

Wind Observation
When the infrared laser is irradiated on fine dust particles in the air, the Doppler effect occurs, in which the frequency of light changes slightly due to the movement of the dust. This effect is used to measure wind speed and direction with high accuracy.
Object Detection
While the Doppler LiDAR is primarily designed for wind observation, Metro Weather is currently exploring and innovating in object detection through this technology.
The lasers detect uncrewed aerial vehicles, such as drones, that fly at low altitudes irregularly and cannot be detected by radar. The Doppler LiDAR employs infrared laser technology that is not easily visible, possesses strong directional properties, and is challenging to identify from the side that is being detected.

In relation to this project, Metro Weather’s research and development efforts have been selected for the following two projects by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
(1) NEDO Important Technology Development Program for Economic Security / Wind Condition Observation Technology for Flight Paths of Small Unmanned Aircraft that contributes to Aviation Safety
Reference: https://www.nedo.go.jp/koubo/CD3_100322.html
(2) NEDO Deep-Tech Startups Support Program (DTSU), PCA phase (late-stage applied research and development) “Development of small, low-cost Doppler LiDARs and accuracy verification methods for mass production”
Reference: https://www.nedo.go.jp/activities/startups/company16.html

About Furukawa Electric

About Metro Weather