Research News
*The information and links in the topics is current on the date of announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.
Year
Month
02 Nov, 2022
Toshiba Corporation and the CiRA Foundation have begun joint research to develop methods for establishing iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells) using liposomes technology.
07 Oct, 2022
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has developed large-scale production technology for the electrodes that realizes high level efficiency in Power to Gas (P2G) technology, essential know-how for advancing toward a carbon neutral society, while reducing the use of iridium, one of the world’s rarest precious metals, to 1/10*1.
27 Sep, 2022
TOKYO—Researchers at Japan’s Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) have announced a significant advance in their work to develop an efficient, low cost and highly reliable tandem solar cell that raises the output of solar panels by layering a transparent solar cell over a standard silicon cell.
16 Sep, 2022
Researchers at Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) have achieved a breakthrough in quantum computer architecture: the basic design for a double-transmon coupler that will improve the speed and accuracy of quantum computation in tunable couplers. The coupler is a key device in determining the performance of superconducting quantum computers.
26 Aug, 2022
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has demonstrated the effectiveness of its grid-forming (GFM) inverter, which was developed to ensure the stability of microgrids. A microgrid is a type of distributed energy system that enables regional self-sufficiency for electric power through the use of renewable energy, rather than relying on power supply from large-scale power plants. When there is a sudden fluctuation in the output of or demand for electric power, a normally stable frequency can fluctuate drastically, possibly triggering a protection relay(*1) and cutting off power supply, leading to power outages. In particular, as the share of renewable energy increases, fluctuations in grid frequency increase. In particular, frequency fluctuations will increase with increased ratios of renewable energy, so the widespread use of microgrids will require technologies for maintaining a stable grid frequency.
12 Jul, 2022
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has developed a technology that could analyze and visualize the internal soundness of bridge decks which cannot be seen from the exterior, and demonstrated its effectiveness for bridges at the Fukuoka-Kitakyushu Expressway Public Corporation (Fukuoka Expressway). This technology uses sensors installed at the undersurface of the deck to acquire and digitize data from weak waves generated at the road surface as vehicles cross the bridge, analyzes the data to digitize internal damage and visualize as a soundness map that cannot be recognized through conventional visual inspections. This technology will enable repair plan formulations and work task implementations according to the internal condition of bridges, and furthermore promote the digitalization of bridge aging countermeasures and contribute to more efficient bridge repair and extending the service life of social infrastructure.
Toshiba has demonstrated this technology for repairs to bridge decks at Fukuoka Expressway Route 2, confirming the validity of evaluations of the internal condition of bridges. The company will continue conducting demonstration with Fukuoka Expressway, and together with its operating company, Toshiba Plant Systems & Services Corporation, aims to start providing this service to road operators in FY2024.
15 Jun, 2022
KAWASAKI--Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation and Toshiba Corporation (collectively “Toshiba”) have together developed the world’s first 4.5-kV double-gate reverse-conducting injection-enhanced gate transistor (RC-IEGT). Toshiba confirmed a total power loss, when switching on and off (switching loss), reduction of 24% compared with the conventional single-gate structure.
25 May, 2022
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has developed Few-Shot Object Detection AI, an image recognition-based technology capable of immediately detecting a new object with unprecedented accuracy. Simply registering a single image primes the technology to recognize new products and parts in production and logistics. The company designed the new AI to be useful in situations where new objects appear frequently, such as plants that regularly process updated and improved products and parts, and distribution centers that are constantly required to handle new merchandise.
There are worldwide efforts to convert sensing data from the field into valuable information and return it to the field as feedback, thereby increasing productivity, quality, and efficiency in operations. Image recognition AI, which detects people and objects in images, is particularly valuable for analysis aiming to improve productivity, automate processes, and reduce workloads. However, one drawback of the technology is the need to prepare large amounts of image data for training to detect new objects every time they are needed in the situations where the technology is used.
Toshiba’s new Few-Shot Object Detection AI is automatically pre-trained to recognize the shapes of non-target objects in the training images, a proprietary development in the training process that enables the AI to detect new objects with the registration of a single image and no retraining in the field. In an assessment of detection accuracy based on a public dataset, the technology achieved unprecedented accuracy.
Companies that operate factories and plants that handle many different parts and equipment have been reluctant to incorporate AI into their processes because of the time and effort required for retraining every time something changes. Few-Shot Object Detection AI is easy to introduce and use, helping these companies digitize their operations and promote digital transformation to improve productivity, quality, and efficiency.
Toshiba is scheduled to give a presentation on the details of the new technology on May 25, 2022 at ICIAP 2021, the 21st International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing.
23 May, 2022
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has developed artificial intelligence (AI) for detecting anomalies during infrastructure inspections. With only a few reference images of inspection targets and no real-world training, the technology can accurately detect cracks and rust as well as leaks, adhesion of foreign material, detachment of parts, and other infrequent, untrained anomalies.
This new AI not only reduces inspection workloads—particularly those that imperil workers or require travel, such as atop steel towers in the mountains, under elevated bridges, on slopes, and under solar panels—it also performs well in real-world situations where the scarcity of images from the field has hampered past efforts to use AI.
The technology uses features from pre-trained deep learning models to compare inspection photographs against reference images, and thus does not require real-world training as in the case of conventional AI. Toshiba’s proprietary correction technology enables the new AI to detect anomalies with high accuracy even when inspection photographs are taken from different angles than in the reference images, and also limits false positives in the case of unique patterns that are actually normal. In an assessment based on a public dataset, the AI was 91.7% accurate, the highest figure ever recorded. The new technology automates inspections, reduces workloads, and expedites the discovery of anomalies, helping ensure stable long-term operation of infrastructure.
Toshiba is scheduled to give a presentation on the details of this new AI on May 25, 2022 at ICIAP 2021, the 21st International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing, in Italy.
18 Mar, 2022
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has revealed major advances in shrinking the laser projector unit of its LiDAR to one quarter the size of the previous version released in June 2021. Using two of the new projector units, the new LiDAR is just 206cm3 in volume that can fit comfortably into the palm of the hand. Its range has been pushed out to 300m, the world’s longest with an industry-leading image resolution of 1200x84 pixels. It can be configured with flexible combinations of projector units to handle a variety of long-range and wide-angle detection applications.
24 Feb, 2022
At the Toshiba Co-creation Center “Creative Circuit,” which opened last February as a base for co-creation activities in the Toshiba Group, Toshiba has implemented functions using the company’s latest video recognition AI to create new value with co-creation partners through experiencing the latest technology.
As a first step, Toshiba has implemented four functions at Creative Circuit: crowding detection, suspicious behavior detection, unnatural posture detection, and individual recognition. By allowing co-creation partners within and outside of the Toshiba Group to experience AI technology, Toshiba will work with its co-creation partners to create new value from AI technologies, leading to earlier social implementation of Toshiba AI.
Furthermore, to make Creative Circuit a safer, more secure, and more creative environment during the COVID-19 epidemic, the company has developed a communication-activity monitoring system that uses a crowding detection function and is operated within Creative Circuit. This system detects the state of crowding while also calculating and displaying communication activity levels to support active communication while preventing excessive crowding, thereby increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of co-creation activities.
Toshiba plans to continue introducing new AI functions at Creative Circuit, which will also be used as a base for value creation using AI technology with its co-creation partners, contributing to the creation of innovative solutions for solving social issues and realizing a sustainable society.
14 Jan, 2022
TOKYO―Nomura Holdings, Inc. (President and Group CEO, Kentaro Okuda, hereinafter Nomura HD), Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Representative Director and President, Kentaro Okuda, hereinafter Nomura Securities), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (President, Hideyuki Tokuda, Ph.D., hereinafter NICT), Toshiba Corporation (Representative Executive Officer and President and Chief Executive Officer, Satoshi Tsunakawa, hereinafter Toshiba), and NEC Corporation (President and CEO, Takayuki Morita, hereinafter NEC) have jointly verified on the effectiveness and practicality of quantum cryptography for future social implementation using the stock trading operations as a use case, where high-speed, large-volume, low-latency data transmission is strictly required. The test which started in December 2020 is the first in Japan to verify the low-latency and large-volume transmission tolerance of highly secure data transmission conforming to the message transmission format (FIX format), which is a standard format used in actual stock trading operations. As a result, in our assumed use case, we were able to confirm the following two points: (i) the throughput is maintained at a level of a conventional system even if quantum cryptography is applied, and (ii) even if a large number of stock orders are placed, highly secure and high-speed quantum cryptographic communication can be realized without depleting cryptographic keys. The success of this test is expected to accelerate the social implementation of quantum cryptography including the broad range of sector other than finance.
27 Dec, 2021
Toshiba Group has announced the world's first demonstration of HDD recording performance improvement with Microwave Assisted Switching-Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAS-MAMR), a next-generation magnetic recording technology. The demonstration confirms that the technology delivers substantial storage capacity gains, and Toshiba now aims to realize early commercialization of nearline HDDs with capacities exceeding 30TB.
22 Dec, 2021
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it has successfully raised the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of its transparent Cu2O solar cell to 8.4%, the world’s highest level for a reported Cu2O solar cell. With the cell positioned as the top cell over a 25% PCE silicon cell (Cu2O-Si tandem cell), Toshiba estimates that an overall PCE of 27.4% can be achieved, notably above the 26.7% highest PCE reported for any standard silicon cell.
15 Dec, 2021
TOKYO─Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) has developed “Electricity markets trading strategy AI” for renewable energy aggregation that supports strategic trading by electricity market operators. The AI bundles renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power and simultaneously makes strategic trading decisions that support profitable trading while avoiding supply imbalances. By realizing stable supply of highly variable renewable energy and promoting its use as a primary power source, the AI will help to advance carbon neutrality.
Next Kraftwerke Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation are participating in a demonstration experiment using the AI that began on December 1, 2021, as part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Renewable Energy Aggregation Demonstration Project.