Researchers are conducting a series of tests that will involve using 5G networks to coordinate autonomous drone flights and remote control industrial robots in factories.
The team consists of researchers from the Universidad Carlos Iii De Madrid (UC3M) working with 5TONIC, a research laboratory for 5G technology founded by IMDEA Networks and Telefónica.
Validation tests of Project 5G-DIVE will be conducted at 5TONIC before a final test is carried out in 2021. The first test for remote control of industrial robots will focus on creating a connection of one of these devices to a digital twin and using artificial intelligence in a network to process images taken by cameras to detect possible imperfections in the parts created in the factory.
The second test for autonomous coordinated drone flight will use 5G technology to control the drones from a central base and using AI detect, for example, if a person is in danger during a wildfire.
"This project is highly applicable at the point of transforming the current networks into a much wider distributed network, in which the user terminals form an integral part of the network's resources," said Antonio de la Oliva, associate processor at UC3M’s Telematic Engineering Department. “Apart from validating 5G technology, it presents a research component in the line of distributed computation and new network models.”
The tests will be based on two-pillars 5G connectivity including improvement to the base stations and terminals and more accessible computation for the user through so-called “fog computing” or computation in the cloud closely connected to the 5G network. The test will focus on how to optimize performance and significantly the value proposition of 5G in specific vertical applications.
5G-DIVE is funded by Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Framework Program of Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan.
