Meidensha Corporation (Meiden) has developed a next-generation controller which uses edge computing to collect and analyze sensor data from onsite equipment such as power receiving and transforming devices at electrical substations. The Internet of Things (IoT) controller makes it possible to remotely manage and monitor infrastructural facilities and systems, helping our clients save on manpower. Furthermore, the controller’s highly reliable design will help ensure safe operations around the clock at those locations.

The IoT controller is equipped with hardware and software compatible with various kinds of controlling equipment, a factor that will make it a novel core feature of products to be developed in the future.

In recent years, it has become increasingly important in Japan to conduct so-called preventive maintenance on infrastructural facilities using digital technologies such as IoT. This is particularly so as the nation faces the challenge of maintaining and managing aging infrastructural facilities, a problem aggravated by the labor shortage and rising maintenance costs. Meiden, for its part, has been pushing facility maintenance projects using IoT, including the development of the IoT controller, to ensure operation of such facilities remains stable. It comes with functions that each field of operation requires and is applicable to a wide-range of fields when combining it with the cloud computing system and other peripheral products.

Example of how the IoT controller will be used


Meiden has already started offering a system to monitor power receiving and transforming equipment capable of remotely assessing infrastructural conditions with the IoT controller. The system’s IoT controller comes equipped with a maintenance terminal capable of collecting, accumulating, monitoring and reporting data from such electrical devices as power receiving and transforming equipment, off-grid power generators, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and distribution panels in addition to various sensors.

Under Meiden’s plan, data collected from the terminal will be aggregated at the customer center so that it can be used for predictive diagnostics of facilities to ensure they can operate stably and safely. Also, data stored at the data center can be accessed through the Internet anywhere and anytime. If an anomaly is spotted, the controller will immediately send an alarm text to workers in charge of the facility. And in the event of an emergency, the workers will be sent swift help to deal with the situation.

Furthermore, Meiden will market the controller as an edge computing terminal that is capable of analyzing the collected data and conducting AI-based inference and calculations to further improve the efficiency of maintenance and management work.

Example of how power receiving and transforming equipment monitoring system, which is capable of remotely diagnosing problems at infrastructural facilities, can be composed




Under its Medium-term Management Plan 2024 which started in April 2021, Meiden is pursuing business operations with an emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) proposition. Meiden is committed to attaining sustainable infrastructure as one of the areas on which it will focus as it follows its business roadmap toward 2030 and a society transformed for the better. Meiden will increase its range of IoT-related products to help achieve labor and energy-saving in facilities management for a digital society. 

Press contacts:

Corporate Communications & PR Promotion Division
e-mail: kouhou@mb.meidensha.co.jp