iLink’s contribution specifically focuses on “Indoor vehicle management and collision avoidance” within large industrial facilities. We have designed, developed, and tested a use case that aims to improve working safety through the exploitation of 5G networks and ultra-wideband technology. Thus, the 5G-INDUCE Project brought further expertise to our organization by researching indoor positioning concepts
Open cooperative 5G experimentation platforms for the industrial sector Network Applications
Hardware components
Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is probably one of the most efficient and accurate ways of calculating indoor position. For this reason, we created a UWB system consisting of anchors and portable tags capable of delivering assets’ real-time position.
Software components
The Network Application consists of individual containerized software components deployed on edge and core cloud servers. A custom state-of-the-art “collision prediction” feature provides audio and visual alerts in cases of imminent collision incidents that involve moving entities within the facilities (workers and forklifts). We are currently develop additional safety features involving Computer Vision models that identify moving entities and are capable of estimating the distance between them.
Experimentation Facilities
The first cycle of experiments has been implemented in the iLink premises and the final testing has been conducted in two phases in the industrial facilities of Whirlpool, Italy. Real scenarios have been designed aiming to test the proper functionality of the system in diverse conditions.
Business Value
This use case has been designed from scratch aiming to deliver business solutions that improve the establishment of safe working environments within large industrial facilities.
The real-time awareness of internal assets’ positions can improve operational effectiveness combined with the safety features that enable multilevel process optimization. Data analytics on collision incidents provide insights related to crossroads redesign, marking strategic placement, etc.