OREANDA-NEWS. Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan announced that they are collaborating in the field of disaster prevention to develop autonomous sensor-network technology that can communicate information between devices without human intervention.

While many parts of the planet are at risk from natural disasters, existing technologies for disaster mitigation and prevention, such as laser meters, have only been deployed over a limited area due to the cost of the equipment and the difficulty of maintenance.

The focus of the research collaboration is the application of disaster-prevention systems that use autonomous sensor-network technology. Fujitsu Laboratories and ITRI will work to develop technologies that will collect environmental data from a wide-area grid through numerous wireless sensors that are linked, so that even if some are knocked offline due to damage or insufficient power, the system as a whole can continue to operate. The partners are also constructing a test system, which will be field tested for disaster mitigation and prevention that targets landslides and avalanches.