Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that the FKDPP (Factorial Kernel Dynamic Policy Programming) autonomous control AI algorithm has received the highest award, the prime minister’s Prize, in this year’s Japan Industrial Technology Awards
Jointly developed by Yokogawa and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), FKDPP is an autonomous control AI protocol that makes use of reinforcement learning technology. It can control and autonomise areas of plant operations that have been beyond the capabilities of existing control methods and have up to now necessitated manual operation. Yokogawa put FKDPP into practical use by utilising the company’s know-how regarding plant operation and control, and successfully autonomised manual operations of a distillation column during a field test at a chemical plant. FKDPP inventors Yokogawa and NAIST, as well as Yokogawa Digital, the Yokogawa subsidiary, are joint recipients of the award.
The Japan Industrial Technology Awards (Nihon Sangyo Gijyutsu Taisho) were established in 1972. The purpose of these annual awards is to bring recognition to companies and other organisations that have contributed to industry and society over the year through the development and practical application of advanced technologies. They are intended to celebrate and encourage the development of technologies.
Yokogawa will continue working on developing new technologies to solve the issues that customers face and contribute to the development of industry.
