[Local 5G x Automated Guided Vehicles] Industry Alpha begins exhibiting cutting-edge autonomous guided robots (AMRs) using local 5G at NTT East facilities

2024年3月5日2025年1月22日

TOC

Background of the Exhibition

The manufacturing and logistics industries are currently facing a labor shortage problem due to the declining birthrate and population, and many companies are introducing automation technology to address this issue.

Up until now, efficiency solutions have been developed using cutting-edge technologies such as robotics, image recognition, and optimization algorithms.

Expectations are high for local 5G, which has a high affinity with these technologies and is a key technology for further promoting automation.

Local 5G is a next-generation network that achieves large-capacity data communication and low latency compared to conventional communication technologies. It enables rapid transmission and reception of high-resolution video and seamless data sharing between multiple devices.

Therefore, in the context of smartification, the collaboration between AMR and local 5G has attracted attention, and it is aimed at realizing anomaly detection and remote operation based on the transmission and reception of video, as well as further control of multiple devices.

However, until now, there have been only a few AMRs that can support local 5G, and efforts toward its practical use have been limited. That’s why Industry Alpha and NTT East have teamed up to create new killer use cases and will be holding an exhibit for companies at NTT East’s Local 5G Smart Factory & Logistics Lab.
Through this exhibit, we aim to widely showcase the potential of AMR using local 5G and promote innovation towards the realization of smart factories.

[World’s most advanced] Local 5G compatible AMR “Akatsuki”

Industry Alpha has implemented customization options to make existing AMRs compatible with both local 5G and WiFi by developing new technologies and reviewing the mechanical design. For this exhibition, we customized “Akatsuki” to be compatible with local 5G and provided it. At NTT East’s Local 5G Smart Factory & Logistics Lab, we are exhibiting a demonstration of two AMRs working together to transport foldable containers (ori-con) in cooperation with local 5G.

Main features of “Akatsuki”

①Advanced local 5G support achieves low-latency and highly reliable data communication.

②The AMR body expands and contracts according to the height of the target object, automatically adjusting to the optimal working height.

③A single unit can handle both loading and unloading of objects and transportation, greatly contributing to the automation of picking work.

Future outlook

By working with NTT East, we believe that we can realize new use cases for local 5G in the manufacturing and logistics industries, and take another step toward the ideal factory and warehouse 10 years from now.

Local 5G can be customized to a network that places emphasis on uploading, making it possible to transmit high-definition video data and large-volume CAD data, which are required in the manufacturing industry.

This will enable video transmission using high-precision cameras and remote operation of AMRs to streamline safety management and maintenance work, eliminating the need for on-site supervisors.

Specifically, even if on-site workers, supervisors, and engineers are physically separated, they can share audio and video in real time, allowing one inspector to efficiently inspect multiple sites.

By realizing smart factories through this collaboration between people and machines, we aim to eliminate labor shortages and create a sustainable society.

We are confident that we can be of service to many manufacturing and logistics customers by leveraging the strengths of Industry Alpha, which has a wealth of cutting-edge technology and know-how in smartification, and NTT East, which has a wide customer base as a leader in infrastructure technology such as communications.