Japan sat boosts infra dev’t

Step aside, Starlink. The Philippines will use a Japanese-developed, high-precision satellite positioning system for road maintenance support, aiming to launch a demonstration project using connected vehicles as early as the end of next month.

Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is collaborating on the project with Davao City. The project will install sensors on public buses that will analyze vehicle data, including gravitational force, vibration, and speed, to detect road surface irregularities and other issues such as potholes.

The Michibiki satellite system, sometimes called Japan’s answer to GPS, can provide location information that is accurate to several centimeters. The system is expected to efficiently identify road sections requiring repair, down to the lane level, thereby reducing labor and management costs.

The demonstration will take place over three years, starting in March next year, with around 10 buses in 2026, increasing to a few dozen in 2027. Japan’s communications ministry will subsidize the cost of some equipment, including onboard sensors and antennas for receiving signals from Michibiki satellites.

A partner in the project is i-Probe, a US-based company backed by SoftBank and the major construction consultancy, Pacific Consulting, with expertise in connected-vehicle road maintenance systems. Honda Motor will also provide technical cooperation.

Similar demonstration projects were also conducted with highway management companies in three US states in 2017 and 2018, and in Manila in 2023. The Manila project also used Michibiki positioning data, combined with actual highway data collected on a per-lane basis.

The Philippines’ population growth is creating challenges as vehicle traffic grows on aging road infrastructure.

Japan’s unique Michibiki system now has five satellites in operation, and is considered more precise than the US-developed GPS.