Driven by the digital wave, the integration of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other new generation information and communication technologies with the manufacturing industry is gradually from the concept popularization to the application promotion. The manufacturing industry is becoming more and more intelligent, flexible, service-oriented and high-end. The demand for high-performance wireless network with flexible networking ability is increasingly urgent.In 2019, 5g is the first year of commercial use. 5g has the transmission speed comparable to optical fiber, ubiquitous connectivity of everything and real-time capability close to industrial bus. It is gradually penetrating into the industrial field, triggering a series of integration, innovative applications and changes, bringing historic development opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry.
1、 5g enabling flexible production line
Flexible production line can flexibly adjust the production tasks according to the changes of orders, which is the key to realize diversified, personalized and customized production.Under the traditional network architecture, the modular design of each unit in the production line is relatively perfect, but due to the limitation of network deployment in the physical space, manufacturing enterprises are always constrained in the process of mixed line production.5g will enable flexible production lines in two ways.
One is to improve the flexible deployment capacity of the production line.In the future, the manufacturing module of flexible production line needs to have flexible and rapid re deployment ability and low upgrade cost.5g network into the factory, will make the equipment on the production line get rid of the shackles of the cable, through wireless connection with the cloud platform, rapid update and expansion of functions, and free movement and split combination, in the short term to realize the flexible transformation of the production line.
The second is to provide flexible network deployment.SDN (Software Defined Network), nfv (network function virtualization) and network slicing function in 5g network can support manufacturing enterprises to flexibly arrange network architecture according to different business scenarios, build exclusive transmission network on demand, allocate network resources according to different transmission requirements, and provide services for different production links through bandwidth limitation and priority configurationProvide suitable network control function and performance guarantee.In this architecture, the process of flexible production line can be changed according to the changes of raw materials and orders, and the networking and communication relationship between devices will also be changed accordingly.
2、 5g powered cloud robot
The basic feature of cloud robot is the control platform in the cloud, which uses advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to control the local robot to perform tasks.The cloud robot will exchange huge amount of information with the cloud platform in real time, which needs high-speed, low delay, high reliable wireless communication network support.5g will enable industrial cloud robots in three aspects.
One is to strengthen the cooperative ability between robots.5g provides high-speed network support for the communication between industrial robots, so that robots have the ability of self-organization and cooperation.Industrial robots can cooperate with each other to complete tasks that can not be completed by a single robot in the past.In addition, leading robots with higher authority can command a group of executive robots to complete tasks efficiently through 5g network.
The second is to make robots more agile and safe to cooperate with workers.5g high reliability and ultra-low time delay can make the robot perceive the workers’ actions in real time, flexibly carry out feedback and cooperation, and always keep a safe distance from the workers to ensure the safety of human-computer cooperation.
The third is to realize the remote real-time control of the robot.In some special production environment, such as high temperature and high pressure, which is not suitable for workers to enter, workers can perform real-time remote operation on the robot through 5g network in the monitoring center, so as to achieve the predetermined work goal synchronously and safely.
3、 5g enabled industrial AR / VR
In the future, industrial ar will be used in assembly process guidance, equipment maintenance and other application scenarios, which will visually show the operation steps by superimposing virtual images and real vision, to help engineers shorten the operation time and reduce the error rate.Industrial VR will assist industrial design, enable remote workers to design products in the same virtual scene, and also realize three-dimensional virtual display of the factory, so that managers can fully understand the production situation of the factory.The capacity of Ultra HD AR / VR video is more than 100 megabytes per second, so it is difficult for the current 4G or WiFi network to meet the requirements of stable, smooth and real-time visual experience at the same time.5g will enable industrial AR / VR in three aspects.
One is to make the industrial AR / VR terminal more portable and cheaper.In the complex and changeable factory environment, VR / AR terminal needs a high degree of flexibility and portability.5g based industrial cloud VR / AR can transfer data and computing intensive tasks to the cloud for processing. The terminal only retains the connection and display functions, greatly reducing the weight and cost of the terminal.
The second is to improve the display effect of industrial AR / VR.The high speed and large capacity of 5g network will meet the massive data interaction of high-definition images in Ar / VR, improve the fluency and clarity of AR / VR devices, support the extreme display requirements of 8K resolution and 3D, make more complex rendering effects present, and make users have better visual experience.
Third, improve the interactive experience of industrial AR / VR.The development direction of industrial AR / VR is users’ real-time interaction with virtual or real environment through interactive devices. 5g will meet the millisecond level low delay requirements of strong interactive industrial AR / VR, such as remote multi person collaborative design, virtual factory operation training, and enhance the interactive experience between users and users, users and environment.
4、 5g enabled real time data acquisition and monitoring
In the intelligent factory, the production data collection and the monitoring of workshop conditions and equipment status become more and more important, which can provide a reliable basis for production decision-making, scheduling, operation and maintenance.Although wireless technologies such as NB IOT and ZigBee have been used in industrial data acquisition and monitoring to a certain extent, they still have their own limitations in transmission rate, coverage, delay, reliability and security.5g will enable data acquisition and monitoring in three aspects.
One is to promote the real-time upload of massive data in the factory.5g network with large connection and low delay can interconnect mass production equipment and key components in the factory, improve the timeliness of production data collection, and provide network support for production process optimization and energy consumption management.In addition, a large number of environmental sensors in the factory can report temperature, humidity, brightness, air quality, pollution and other information status in a very short time through 5g network, so that managers can accurately control the environment in the factory.