5G-EVE: Industry 4.0: Autonomous vehicles in manufacturing environments

Overview of the 5G-EVE trial on Industry 4.0: autonomous vehicles in manufacturing environments

This trial assessed the viability of operating 5G connected Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in factories, with vehicle control virtualised at the edge of the network i.e., moving the control of the vehicle out of the physical unit and implementing it in a computing node that meets the latency requirements for the AGV operation. The AGV collects the information from its sensors and sends it to the virtual controller through a wireless connection, initially 4G and then 5G Non-standalone (NSA). This information from the sensors is processed in the virtual controller, identified as virtual PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), which generates the orders to be executed by the AGV actuators. These orders are sent again through the wireless connection to the AGV, where they lead the actions of the different actuators in the next action period. 5G-EVE partners involved: ASTI Mobile Robotics, Ericsson, University Carlos III Madrid, Telefónica I+D, IMDEA Networks.

The system encompasses:

• Radio Access network supporting high performance 5G NSA access.
• Virtual EPC supporting NSA access.
• Virtualised processing platforms, implementing the functionalities required to support the trial, virtual PLC and real time video image recognition.
• Orchestration platform, in charge of instantiating the processing functions, as well as configuring the VNFs.
• Measurement infrastructure based on Kafka bus, which collects measurements from network and processing functions to derive network and service KPIs.
• The system is connected to the Interworking Layer (IWL) in Turin to allow the launch of tests from the 5G EVE portal. It is also connected to the Kafka-based measurement platform, where the relevant KPIs are collected.

5G Empowerment

The trial was implemented at the 5TONIC lab, where a circuit for two AGVs was deployed. 5G NSA coverage is provided at the lab, operating in bands 7 and n78. The AGVs incorporate two wireless routers that support two connections linked to: (i) Implementation of the virtual PLC controlling the AGV, in charge of different procedures (Tracking the marked route, Collision avoidance of obstacles in the AGV route, Actions associated with tracking marks deployed in the route). (ii) Real-time image processing, mainly to identify what obstacle (person, object, etc.) activated the collision avoidance mechanism. It is supported by a camera deployed in the AGV. The controlled AGV is an Easybot model, designed and manufactured by ASTI and used in real factories worldwide. 

Supporting this operational model has several potential advantages for current and future use of AGVs in factories: (i) Potential coordination among AGVs, optimidation of routes and rerouting in case of failure, are all facilitated by implementing a centralised control of the factory’s AGVs, (ii) Lower cost of the AGV, as ithere is no need to incorporate the processing capabilities, which would be critical for the future, with AGVs otherwise required to generate maps from LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) measurements, (iii) Easier maintenance of the equipment, e.g., software upgrades have not to be carried out for each AGV, (iv) Higher reliability through the virtualisation of the centralised processing.

It proved the feasibiliy of supporting an operating model based on the use of virtual PLCs with 5G to control a fleet of AGVs operating in a factory and showed that the 5G Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) cannot be achieved using 4G technology, although suboptimal operation or operating in conditions that do not require the same KPIs could be feasible with 4G and even Wi-Fi. Hence 5G becomes an enabler for supporting the control of AGV fleets with virtual PLCs.

5G Key Perfformance Indicators

ASTI highlights network-related KPI targets for this use case: 

• Latency: to ensure that the AGV works properly under all operating conditions, where the maximum delay between the generation of the sensor measurements up to the associated orders are received at the AGV) should not be greater than 10-15 ms,
• Reliability: 99.999% probability of correct reception of packets in both directions of the link.
• Throughput and capacity are not critical parameters for this use case but may become so in its evolution. A
• A zero-latency handover, as enabled by 3GPP Release 16 Conditional Handover or Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS), would be quite beneficial, as factories are likely to be covered by more than one cell. 

KPIs measured during the trial: 

• Latency: 10 ms, which is in the lower bound of ASTI’s proposed requirements
• Reliability: exceeded 99,9999%.
• AGV battery consumption in two different configurations, one using 4G,  the other 5G, illustrates the benefit of using 5G, mainly due to the low end-to-end delay between the AGV and the remote controller, which permits the AGV to stir over the path smoothly.

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: Spain 

Partners involved: ASTI Mobile Robotics, Ericsson, University Carlos III Madrid, Telefónica I+D, IMDEA Networks

Funding reference: Horizon 2020; H2020-ICT-2018-1; ICT-17-2018 - 5G End-to-End Facility

Funding cycle: July 2018-June 2021

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