5G enabled flexible lineless assembly systems with edge cloud controlled mobile robots

IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), pp. 1419–1424

Abstract

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and mobile manipulators are becoming increasingly popular in industrial use cases, especially for flexible lineless assembly systems. These use cases require wireless communication with high reliability and jitter-minimized bounded latency. This paper describes an industrial use case, where edge-controlled AMRs collaboratively perform various screw installation tasks on a truck chassis. We integrate Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) features such as time synchronization and IEEE 802.1CB based Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability (FRER) scheme with 5G wireless communication to realize this use case. Moreover, we apply hold and forward buffer (HFB) mechanism to minimize communication jitters. This paper highlights the performance benefits of the aforementioned TSN features for 5G communication in the edge-controlled AMR use case. Our empirical evaluation with over-the-air performance results obtained on an industrial shopfloor brings significant insights on using 5G for edge-controlled robotic use cases.

Authors 6

1. Junaid Ansari

   Ericsson (Germany)

   Affiliation as printed

   Ericsson, Research,Aachen,Germany

   Ericsson, Research, Aachen, Germany

2. Tien-sung Hsiao Aachen Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University,Germany

   Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Germany

3. János Farkas

   Ericsson (Hungary)

   Affiliation as printed

   Ericsson, Research,Budapest,Hungary

   Ericsson, Research, Budapest, Hungary

4. István Moldován

   Budapest University of Technology and Economics

   Affiliation as printed

   Budapest University of Technology and Economics,Hungary

   Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary

5. Amon Göppert Aachen Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University,Germany

   Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Germany

6. Robert Heinrich Schmitt Aachen Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University,Germany

   Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Germany