Yamaha 2014 Annual Report Download - page 24

The Yamaha Motor Group’s commitment to create unique and diverse products and
businesses underpins the Group’s growth strategy and embodies the concepts of “creating
fulfilling lifestyles,” “creating enjoyment in personal mobility,” and “creating innovative
technologies that harmonize with people, society and the Earth”—as we seek to create
new products and new businesses that express the unique style of Yamaha.
Commitment to Unique Versatility
GROWTH STRATEGY
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Jinichiro Yaegashi, from the Hanafuroshiki Agricultural Cooperative in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, says, “Working
in the fields carrying a heavy tank for spraying is really tough.”
In addition to reducing the burden on farmers, unmanned helicopters support stable pesticide distribution
with a cruise control function that maintains the unit’s speed and altitude.
Yamaha’s newest model, the FAZER, was launched in 2013. Along with a higher engine output and a new
control system for better operability, this next-generation industrial-use unmanned helicopter is equipped with a
4-stroke engine with fuel injection, providing heavier load capacity with clean, quiet exhaust.
Yamaha Motor’s industrial-use unmanned helicopters are transforming agriculture from the air.
Transforming agriculture from the air—The effectiveness of industrial-use unmanned helicopters
COLUMN
Covering one-third of Japan’s rice paddies
Yamaha Motor has been researching and developing industrial-use
unmanned helicopters since beginning development in the 1980s, and
sales volume in the Unmanned System (UMS) business has been growing,
mainly for agricultural-use models. Yamaha products are currently used
in Japan for crop dusting on 1.04 million hectares (of which 930,000
hectares are rice paddies), which translates to a crop dusting coverage
ratio of 37% for rice paddies* (Yamaha Motor estimate as of 2013).
The UMS Business Development Section is building on this track
record in rice paddy pest control in Japan and South Korea to develop
new product applications. A business has also been launched in
Australia, an application has been filed with the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration for commercial unmanned flight operations, and
verification testing is under way in the United States for the use of
unmanned helicopters in vineyards. We are also working to expand the
business with preparations to enter the Thai and European markets.
Creating new business model for non-agricultural uses
Yamaha Motor’s remote control technology makes our industrial-
unmanned helicopters efficient and safe to operate. They have been
used in Fukushima Prefecture for radiation monitoring since the
tsunami-triggered nuclear accident there, and recently have also been
used for geomagnetic measuring around active volcanoes. We expect
demand to expand to a broad range of areas including disaster recovery,
disaster prevention and damage reduction, environmental surveys,
scientific surveys, other types of measurement operations, and security.
Industrial-Use
Unmanned Helicopters
Japan’s domestic crop dusting coverage
ratio for rice paddies by type of equipment
(Yamaha Motor estimate, 2013)
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Unmanned
helicopters
37%
Power sprayers
29%
Tractors, etc.
22%
No dusting
10%
Manned
helicopters
2%
* Crop dusting coverage ratio =
Actual area dusted ÷ Area used for rice
paddy cultivation
Actual area dusted:
Cultivated land area dusted at least once
during the year
Area used for rice paddy cultivation:
Land area where non-perennial crops such
as rice have been cultivated
Unmanned helicopter sales
(Units)
300
200
100
02011 2012 20142013
Japan Overseas
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