The advent of the fifth generation of cellular (combined wireless) communication technology is beginning to transform the leading edge of industry, particularly in automation and industrial processes control. The combination of previously unattainable data transfer speeds, much reduced latency, and enhanced connectivity, compared with 4G, enables 5G networked devices effectively real-time communication in local and wider networking. This lays the foundations of a truly reticulated industrial control landscape. From smart factories to remote and increasingly devolved-authority robotics, from smart wearables to environmental monitoring, the impacts of 5G on automation, and industry as a whole, is nothing short of a new industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) in how businesses operate.
It's worthwhile to delve into the practical applications of 5G in industrial automation and chart its far-scape potential in reshaping the future of manufacturing.
5G has micro and macro implications that we are only beginning to understand and tap into. Any control application, from a process heater to a city can be improved by more data, processed faster and in real time. Source: Marco/Adobe Stock
Introduction to 5G in industrial automation
The much-heralded roll-out of 5G networks promises huge performance boosts compared with prior generations of wireless technologies. Offering data speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, the new approach is specified to support a massive diversity and density of devices with near-instantaneous response times. This is a crucial factor in industrial control environments where precision, efficiency and safety are all directly correlated with system responsiveness and integrity.
High bandwidth, low-latency data communications and dense device connectivity are delivered on the 5G backbone. This is a primary enabling technology for the evolving concept of Industry 4.0 - the next epoch in the industrial revolution, characterized by smart factories and autonomous systems.
Key features of 5G that impact automation
5G technology introduces or hugely enhances various capabilities that make it optimal for facilitating automation and industrial applications.
Ultra-low latency, as low as 1 millisecond, enables real-time distributed analysis and decision-making/control based on up-to-the-moment knowledge. Extraordinary bandwidth allows the frictionless transfer of oceans of data, rapidly. This allows for dense information to drive decisions using high quality and real-time information, high-definition video, real-time in-depth analytics and massive internet of things (IoT) connectivity. Dense device connectivity is baked-in, in that 5G can support up to 1 million devices per square kilometer. This enables deployment of widespread sensor networks, machines with deep situational awareness, and the connecting of previously isolated devices and subsystems into networked environments of fractal complexity. Enhanced data reliability/integrity results from features like network slicing, which describes nested and interfaces virtual networks within the 5G environment.
Through these and other tools, 5G delivers robust, dedicated connections for a diversity of critical applications, boosting function durability and minimizing downtime.
Revolutionizing smart factories with 5G
Smart factories are the vanguard of Industry 4.0, where interconnected machines, systems, and devices seamlessly merge operations and negotiate status to optimize production. 5G is the foundation on which these systems are constructed, enabling factory setups to be more efficient and flexible by enabling seamless communication between devices. This connectivity leads to several key benefits:
Real-time data and analytics
In a 5G environment, smart factories can constantly gather and analyze data from machines and processes in real time. This enables timely and effective decision-making about control issues, predictive maintenance and the optimization of workflows. The speed and bandwidth of 5G is imperative in this, enabling vast amounts of data to be processed in real-time, equipping deeper analysis plus earlier and more assertive control algorithms to impose stability based on known and up-to-date fact.
Enhanced automation agility
The low latency of 5G ensures that automated systems can respond proactively to changes in production conditions, avoiding the instability of post-hoc analysis. This is increasingly critical in the growing list of environments/operations where precision is the purpose, such as robotics and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). The real-time control offered by 5G allows machines such as cobots to operate with better integration and improved situational safely alongside human operators, reducing the risk of errors and downtime.
Remote monitoring and control
5G has introduced new potentialities in remote monitoring and control of industrial equipment and processes. Technicians can remote-monitor equipment without geographic constraints, reducing the cost-burden of on-site personnel and allowing for rapid responses to incipient problems. This also enables remote maintenance where systems are set up for self-redative capabilities or with switchable redundancies, minimizing downtime and increasing operational efficiency.
Remote robotics and teleoperation
One of the most promising applications of 5G in industry is the use of independent operating robots, equipped to manage normal operations and limited exceptions in conditions without the need to check-in before proceeding. In industries ranging from manufacturing, mining, and oil exploration through to orbital and eventually extra-terrestrial mining. By utilizing 5G’s low latency and high reliability, operators can control robots in real-time from a safe, remote location.
Enhancing precision/responsiveness
The combination of AI and machine learning (ML) that can be exploited through 5G connectivity allows robots to make precise movements based on real-time situational awareness. In fields like surgery or precision manufacturing, this can deliver higher quality outcomes and reduced error risks. Large data streams generated by high-definition sensors allow robots to respond quickly to subtle changes in their environment.
Expanding use cases in hazardous environments
High hazard industries such as oil and gas, mining, and construction benefit from 5G-enabled remote robotics, deployed in hazardous areas to perform complex tasks. The ability to control these robots remotely and enable them with varied levels of edge-computing based local control/decision making means that human workers can avoid exposure to dangerous conditions
Ramping industrial IoT with 5G
The industrial IoT (IIoT) is based on high bandwidth connected devices, sensors, and machinery that gather and analyze data and cooperate in control systems that optimize industrial processes. 5G massively enables IIoT by providing the broad-band, responsive connectivity that is demanded by large-scale deployment of heavily networked devices.
Improved connectivity for sensors
In sectors as diverse as agriculture, logistics and manufacturing, thousands of sensors and data nodes are deployed to monitor equipment, activity and environmental conditions. 5G’s massive device connectivity supports the widespread use of these sensors, ensuring reliable communication across vast industrial environments. This allows businesses to collect more data to equip themselves to make more informed and timely decisions for improved outcomes in any activity.
Enabling predictive maintenance
5G, and the data flows it allows, enables predictive maintenance by facilitating continuous monitoring of equipment condition through connected sensors. With extensive data and the logging of real-world events associated with it, ML equips deepening understanding of incipient signs of system changes. With real-time data analysis, potential issues can be identified before they lead to failures, based on learned and interpolated models. This reduces downtime, lowers maintenance costs and extends the life of equipment.
Secure, reliable communications
5G offers enhanced security features, including encryption and network slicing, which ensure that critical industrial communications are protected from cyber threats. This is increasingly important as industries that rely on sensitive data, such as pharmaceuticals, automotive, power systems and other services and aerospace recognize their specific and general vulnerabilities.
Supply chain and logistics optimization
In broader implications than just the transforming of manufacturing processes, 5G has the potential to revolutionize larger and more complex/diffuse systems such as supply chain and logistics operations. Through real-time tracking and event monitoring of goods and transit processes, 5G data can greatly enhance operational efficiency and granular awareness/reliability in the movement of materials and products, from the small to the large scale.
Real-time tracking and fleet management
5G’s high connectivity and fast interchange allows businesses to track the location, condition and movement of goods in real-time. Combine general and transition logged data with real-time RFID information and a management system has full awareness. Fleet management systems already exploit 5G to monitor the status of vehicles, ensuring that deliveries are made on time and that routes are optimized for efficiency. The diversity if application and the degree of drill-down in data is growing exponentially.
Autonomous delivery systems
Without the bandwidth and responsiveness of 5G, the use of autonomous vehicles and drones for delivering goods would be impossible. When fully connected, these systems can navigate complex environments and exceptions, avoid obstacles and comply with safety-demanding and regulated operations increasingly well. Full information allows agile route planning, aggregation across connected/overlapping delivery tracks and the optimization of both service and costs
Challenges in implementing 5G for industry
While the benefits of 5G in automation, logistics and wider industry are significant, there are also challenges to be addressed.
The deployment of 5G infrastructure, particularly in rural and industrial areas, is a cost barrier. Ensuring widespread coverage will require significant investment. Without this, broader applications in large scale systems can be disjointed and ineffective.
Existing industrial equipment is typically not compatible with 5G networks, necessitating costly upgrades or replacements. In particular, replacing legacy software systems is prohibitively expensive and liable to be disruptive in many cases.
As disconnected industrial operations become more networked, the risk of cyber-attacks increases as the scale of impact and the range of potential attack nodes rises. Businesses must invest in robust security measures to protect sensitive data and ensure the safety of their operations, and future proof in ways that can be hard to encompass.
The future of 5G in automation and industry
As 5G networks continue to expand, the diversity and granularity of impacts on industry and automation will only grow. The ability to connect vast networks of devices, with real-time communication, and distributed decision making is beginning to deliver new levels of complications - as well as efficiencies, flexibility and productivity.
Collaborative robotics (cobots)
The adoption of cobots is expected to continue to increase in growth rate across industries such as manufacturing, the service sector and healthcare. 5G enables cobots to work more seamlessly with human operators by providing real-time communication and safer interaction.
Digital twins
Digital twins - virtual replicas of physical assets - are not yet common but are becoming increasingly practical as maintenance and operational evaluation tools. 5G networking data from the real to the virtual continuously updates digital twins with real-world events, allowing ML algorithms to increase the depth of understanding/prediction in monitoring equipment performance, predicting failures and optimize operations.
Edge computing
The rollout of 5G networks is enabling edge computing to play an increasingly critical role in processing the vast amounts of data generated by IoT-sensor enabled industrial systems. Processing data closer to the source reduces latency and enables faster, more informed and more nuanced decisions.
Conclusion
The deployment of 5G in automation and industry is beginning to revolutionize how businesses operate, but there is a long road to travel in exploiting the full implied capabilities of this model.
With its high speed, low latency and massive interconnectivity capabilities, 5G enables real-time communication, agile and responsive robotics, and the widespread use of IoT devices, driving these early phases of Industry 4.0.
However, challenges such as infrastructure costs, legacy-compatibility and cybersecurity must be addressed to unlock the full potential of this transformation.
As 5G continues to evolve and our understanding of its implications grow, it will reshape whole industries and environments, delivering operational efficiency, reduced resource wastage, flexibility and competitiveness in global marketplaces.
