Mitsubishi Electric, Sony Plan AI Sensor Venture
Advanced Vision Solutions will begin operations in October and develop AI-powered vision sensors for factory automation.
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Image Credit- Chetan Jha/ MIT Sloan Management Review India
Mitsubishi Electric and Sony Semiconductor Solutions will establish a joint venture to develop artificial intelligence-powered vision sensors for factories seeking to automate production and reduce reliance on manual labor.
Advanced Vision Solutions Co. is scheduled to begin operations in October, subject to regulatory approvals, the companies said on Wednesday, July 22.
Mitsubishi Electric will own 60% of the Yokohama-based venture, while Sony Semiconductor Solutions will hold the remaining 40%. Tamiki Kobayashi will serve as its representative.
The venture will combine Sony’s image sensors and edge AI technology with Mitsubishi Electric’s factory automation systems. Its planned sensors will analyze images directly on the device and feed information on product quality, equipment performance and maintenance needs into manufacturing control systems.
The companies said the technology could allow factory equipment to detect changing conditions and adjust operations with limited human involvement. They also plan to combine visual information with other factory data to identify equipment abnormalities and early warning signs that may be difficult to detect from a single source.
Mitsubishi Electric plans to integrate the resulting vision data with Serendie, its digital platform, as it builds a factory automation solutions business focused on autonomous control.
“The need for labor-saving, unmanned systems and autonomous optimization at production sites is greater than ever,” Takayuki Tsuzuki, Group President of Mitsubishi Electric’s Factory Automation Systems, said in a statement.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions President and CEO Shinji Sashida said image sensors could act as the “eyes” of AI systems by capturing factory conditions and connecting that information to operational decisions and controls.
The venture will target manufacturers seeking to automate production, improve quality control and strengthen predictive maintenance.
The companies did not disclose their planned investment, revenue targets or a timetable for commercial deployment of the sensors.
