5GROWTH: Industry 4.0 - Remote operation of metrology over 5G

Overview of the 5GROWTH trial on Remote operation of metrology over 5G for Industry 4.0

According to the German engineering association, VDI, industry and metrology 4.0 are evolving into fast, accurate, reliable, flexible and holistic processes with digitisation and 5G serving as essential tools to transform the quality control paradigm. This is where the 5GROWTH architecture and technology come into play as vital enablers for more autonomous human-machine-information interactions over the 5G network.

For this trial, Innovalia has teamed up the 5Gtonic lab in Madrid and partners Ericsson, Telefónica, UC3M, CTTC, IMDEA Networks, Telcaria Ideas, Nextworks, Mirantis, NEC and NBL, linking also to the 5G-EVE platform. 

This trial deploys 5G connected quality control services for workers 4.0, connecting them anywhere, anytime with the M3 metrology software with the Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM) and video system, where the Innovalia metrology expert in Bilbao connects with the equipment at the manufacturing site in Barcelona. The trial is thus geared towards  enabling personalised, remote decision and quality control assistance.

On a technical level, the vertical interacts with the Vertical Slicer component of the 5GROWTH stack to instantiate and manage their services as network slices before deploying all the resources and service and configuring with the multi-domain orchestration innovation to connect the 5G EVE platform deployed at the 5Tonic site. The M3 Edge application is deployed on the edge cloud with the 5GROWTH  stack. The Interworking Layer component of the 5G-EVE platform coordinates the orchestration operations at the different domains. To reach the application, the 5G network (either Non-Standalone - NSA or Standalone - SA), configured by the Radio Controller component of the 5G-EVE platform, provides the desired connectivity to the devices. The radio conditions are: 3.5 GHz frequency band; 50 MHz 5G + 20 MHz 4G bandwidth; TDD pattern 7:3.

5G Empowerment

5G NR provides a reliable high-throughput performance, with a consistently low latency, improving previous mobile generations. The lower latency in the radio segment leaves higher margin for operating the machines from far distances. The vertical application is deployed on the network edge of the 5G architecture only when needed. This saves costs for the verticals, as they do not need to maintain the hardware and the application at all their customers’ premises. Industries will benefit from the ubiquity of 5G commercial networks connectivity for instant device connections anywhere, in a faster, cheaper and more flexible way than cable. This solution is also well suited for industrial SMEs, otherwise cut out of this transformation due to technical constraints. 

5G Key Performance Indicators

Enabling the remote operation of industrial machinery via secure communication requires high data rate and low end-to-end latency between devices. 

Videos and Demos

INNOVALIA Pilot. Connected Worker Remote Operation of Quality Equipment

Accolades

One of the ten winners of the 2021 5G-IA Trials Working Group annual competition, featuring in the 5G Infrastructure PPP Brochure - Trials and Pilots. 

Use Case Data Summary

Location: Bilbao, Barcelona, Madrid, Spain. 

Dates: Q1-2021

Partners involved:  Innovalia, 5Gtonic Lab, Ericsson, Telefónica, UC3M, CTTC, IMDEA Networks, Telcaria Ideas, Nextworks, Mirantis, NEC and NBL.

EC funding reference: H2020-ICT-2018-3; ICT-19-2019 - Advanced 5G validation trials across multiple vertical industries

Funding cycle: June 2019-February 2022