国立大学法人 九州工業大学未来社会ロボット実装センター

Center for Social Implementation of Future Robots

海中電波通信でAUVから海底画像をリアルタイム伝送 ― NEDO Challenge for Blue Economyで第3位を受賞(2026.6.16)

・受賞日　
2026年6月12日

・受賞概要
地球温暖化による気候変動は世界各地に深刻な影響を及ぼしています。海洋は人間が排出するCO2の約4分の1を吸収しており、特に 沿岸の海の生態系が蓄える「ブルーカーボン」は高い炭素貯留能力を持っています。 NEDO Challenge for Blue Economyはブルーカーボン産業の発展に寄与する革新的技術、および船体付着生物の把握・清掃につながる 技術の創出を目的に、懸賞金型コンペティションです。１次コンペティションとして、「大型藻類の育成状況の把握・計測」と「船底付着 生物の把握」の２つのテーマ、全５部門が開催されました。本学からは、第２、第４、第５部門に出場し、第４部門の自由技術で３位となりました。 https://blue-economy-challenge.nedo.go.jp/#result1st 　

・研究内容や受賞理由
 九州工業大学はパナソニック株式会社と海中電波通信に関する共同研究を行っています。海中では電波の減衰が大きいため、GPSのような位置計測装置、Wifi無線は使えないため、 これまで海中電波通信の研究は行われていませんでしたが、研究開発の結果、距離４mで1Mbpsの通信に成功しました。その技術を自律型水中ロボット（AUV）に適用し、 リアルタイムでの海底画像伝送を実現しました。その新規性が評価され３位（賞金100万円）を受賞しました。 
・受賞者氏名（所属・学年・肩書きなど）　
代表　特任教授　江口　和弘 　
・発表題目　
海中電波通信によるＵＵＶ撮影動画と位置情報のリアルタイム伝送による大型藻類の生育状況把握

Date of Award: June 12, 2026

Award Overview
Climate change caused by global warming is having serious impacts around the world. The oceans absorb approximately one-quarter of the CO₂ emitted by human activities, and in particular, coastal marine ecosystems store significant amounts of carbon known as Blue Carbon, which has a high carbon sequestration capacity.
The NEDO Challenge for Blue Economy is a prize-based competition aimed at creating innovative technologies that contribute to the development of blue carbon industries, as well as technologies for the detection and cleaning of marine biofouling on ship hulls. In the first competition, five categories were organized under two themes: “Monitoring and Measurement of Large Seaweed Growth” and “Detection of Ship Hull Biofouling.”
Kyushu Institute of Technology participated in Categories 2, 4, and 5, and won Third Prize in Category 4 (Open Technology Division).

Reference:
NEDO Challenge for Blue Economy Results
Research Content and Reason for the Award
Kyushu Institute of Technology has been conducting collaborative research with Panasonic Corporation on underwater radio-frequency (RF) communication technologies. Since electromagnetic waves experience significant attenuation underwater, conventional positioning systems such as GPS and wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi cannot be used effectively. Consequently, underwater RF communication has received limited research attention in the past.
Through extensive research and development, the team successfully achieved underwater wireless communication at a data rate of 1 Mbps over a distance of 4 meters. This technology was subsequently integrated into an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), enabling the real-time transmission of seabed images and positional information.
The novelty and practical potential of this technology were highly evaluated, resulting in the team receiving Third Prize, accompanied by a ¥1,000,000 award.

Award Recipient
Representative:
Kazuhiro Eguchi
Specially Appointed Professor, Kyushu Institute of Technology

Presentation Title
Monitoring the Growth Status of Large Seaweeds through Real-Time Transmission of UUV-Captured Video and Position Information Using Underwater Radio-Frequency Communication