Well-known companies were involved in the test setups with their technology: For example, autonomous vehicles from Götting KG and Bosch Rexroth AG as well as an industrial robot from ABB AG.

Wireless networks based on WLAN technology are ubiquitous, even in industry. However, it is important to distinguish between applications in the information technology (IT) sector, mainly in the administrative area, and operation technology (OT) in the productive area. Examples show how even high requirements can be met.

The formerly separate worlds of office IT environments and production network technology are increasingly converging. However, both areas are faced with different requirements. If the systems are to work ever more seamlessly in the future, it is important to know the different requirements and to ensure that they are met in one’s own company. For example, the demands in the industrial environment with regard to availability, quality of service (QoS) and security are higher than in the IT sector.

In scenarios of manufacturing companies, 4G/5G campus networks based on 3GPP standards with exclusively allocated frequencies and centralized management of radio resources have an advantage. As part of the TACNET 4.0 project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the QoS characteristics of the MECSware campusXG system solution were also investigated experimentally.

Industrial robots under test

The aim of the experiment at the Hildesheim research site of Robert Bosch GmbH was to realistically demonstrate the suitability of various radio technologies for the automated control of mobile equipment in an industrial environment. Autonomous vehicles from Götting KG and Bosch Rexroth AG were used, as well as an industrial robot from ABB AG. The industrial robot takes a workpiece from the passing vehicle and returns it to the vehicle after processing. A video shows the details. The precise sequence of movements is made possible by accurate synchronization of the vehicle controller and industrial robot based on low deterministic network latency.

In another experiment at the German Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), a comparison was made with an IEEE 802.11n WLAN. Without load, many networks work perfectly. QoS capabilities come to light when a network has to handle a high number of connections or a high data throughput. In the experiment, a remote-controlled vehicle was manually guided through an obstacle course. In parallel, additional data streams were generated for load simulation. The test was initially carried out on a WLAN basis (see video on WLAN test). It was not possible to guide the vehicle without collisions. In the subsequent test with the LTE network, the vehicle was able to be steered through the obstacle course without errors.

Test your own network simply and easily

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