110 “To ensure the efficient processing of large amounts of data and information of an intelligent and networked smart factory, the capacity and speed of 5G is absolutely necessary” reports Sven Müller, Project Manager Innovation Management at AUDI AG. “In the battery technology centre at the Ingolstadt site, we have therefore installed a 5G campus network to test the interaction of an AGV with people and production facilities.” Previous standards such as WLAN or LTE were severely limited in the areas of latency, bandwidth and transitions between radio cells without complications. The 5G standard was developed to significantly improve these challenges with transmission rates of up to 10 Gbit/second. 5G-capable AGV sought for outdoor and indoor transports For the implementation of the project, AUDI AG was looking for a flexible, driverless transport vehicle (AGV) that could be easily integrated into the 5G campus network. The use case envisaged bringing workpiece carriers from the logistics areas to the processing locations in battery production or to the emergency container. The AGV models from SAFELOG were set up for these requirements. “To integrate into the 5G campus network, we replaced the standard WiFi client with 5G-capable hardware and adapted the configuration accordingly,” explains Moritz Schmidt, project manager at SAFELOG GmbH. “We also worked closely with the AUDI AG project team on programming the control software and the user interface for mobile devices.” For the driving tasks inside and outside the shopfloor, the SAFELOG AGV was equipped with hybrid navigation consisting of magnetic track navigation and contour detection. The 5G campus network reliably covers all process areas so that secure communication is always guaranteed. Real-time communication thanks to 5G Setting up a dedicated 5G campus network ensures that sufficient transmission capacity is available for networking and communication in a smart factory, even with large data volumes. “The test setup includes a total of 14 stations inside and outside the shopfloor,” explains Schmidt. “The workpiece carriers are transported from the logistics transfer point to the robot cells where the workpieces are processed automatically.” After a processing step, the workpiece carriers are either moved directly to the next cell or parked in buffer areas. The use of mobile transport robots relieves the employees from manually transporting the battery racks, which weigh up to 1,500 kg, with time and cost savings in addition to the ergonomic advantages. “Before each movement into or out of the robot cells, the AGV must establish a connection with the plant’s PLC to obtain entry or exit clearance,” Müller reports. “Our 5G campus network ensures interference-free machine-to-machine communication in real time.” All 14 stations are connected to each other via routes and can be freely selected via the control software. This results in a high degree of flexibility in the processes and an optimization of the entire value chain. Intralogistics Pilot project: 5G-capable transport robots in automotive production By Alexander Strunz, Corporate Communications & PR Officer, SAFELOG GmbH, Markt Schwaben The opportunities that the fifth mobile phone generation, or 5G in short, opens up for industry are immense. Machine-to-machine communication in real time, secure automation andmore flexible process design as well as the optimization of the entire value chain are just a few of them. In order to be able to use these advantages across the board, AUDI AG has set up a 5G campus network at the Ingolstadt site for research purposes. In cooperation with SAFELOG, AUDI AG is testing the control of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) via 5G. The focus is on communication with production facilities, real-time localization, order management and intelligent route planning. AUDI AG www.audi.de 5G technology: unleashing the robots https://t1p.de/rgqa SAFELOG GmbH https://www.safelog.de/en Mobile transport robots https://t1p.de/lad2e Video Share Image: © AUDI AG AUDI AG was looking for a 5G-capable AGV to transport workpiece carriers at its Ingolstadt site. 5G-enabled AGV in automotive production https://t1p.de/8hnld
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