Sony Mobile is teaming up with a company called ZMP to develop drones as part of a new intelligent robotics company. The two companies are pooling resources to form a new joint venture called Aerosense that is made up of workers from Sony Mobile and ZMP, a robotics company that Sony previously invested in last year, and has an initial capital investment of 100 million yen (£517,000).
Sony has already invested nearly $850,000 into Japanese autonomy startup ZMP, whose tagline is to ‘make a robot of everything’ and whose past projects include ‘automated driving technologies’ a.k.a. self-driving cars, similarly to those in the works by other tech giants like Apple and Google.
More details about the product itself should be available next month, at an Aerosense event. What we do know for now is that imagery gathered by the drones will be processed by cloud-based servers. It is also known that the winged, vertical lift-off device is just one of many concepts Sony is considering.[blockquote type=”left”]“Sony’s camera, sensing, telecommunications network, and robotics technologies will be leveraged alongside ZMP’s automated driving and robotics technologies together with their business experience in industrial fields.”[/blockquote]
The Aerosense initiative was pushed by Sony Mobile Communications CEO Hiroki Totoki, who took charge last November in an attempt to spur interest in Sony’s Xperia smartphones and revive the struggling business. The firm is trying to launch new business initiatives, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT) field.
Sony Mobile wants to combine its expertise in network technology and mobile device cameras, which are used in Apple’s iPhones, with ZMP’s know-how in autonomous control technology. Along with mobile gaming firm DeNA, ZMP is involved in a project to launch a robot taxi service for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Drones have fast become a tech-lover’s next must-have purchase and companies like DJI and Parrot have capitalised on their ever-increasing popularity, but investment from Sony’s mobile division suggests that it wants a piece of this pie. Action camera maker GoPro has already announced its intention of entering the drone market too.
Image: DJI Inspire 1