Milvus, Turkcell, and Ericsson Demonstrate 5G Mobile Robot Safe Crossing in Real Warehouse

Turkcell and Ericsson last week announced that they have successfully performed a 5G industrial use-case demonstration of Milvus Robotics' mobile robots safely crossing in a real warehouse environment.

The demo used Turkcell’s 5G private network, provided by Ericsson. Ankara, Turkey-based Milvus Robotics, an Industry 4.0 partner of Ericsson, provided the autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The deployment followed a successful demonstration earlier this year in Turkcell's test laboratory that the companies claimed was the first one in Turkey.

Milvus Robotics finds AMRs work in 5G

The test used Milvus Robotics’ SEIT500 production AMRs for materials handling within the warehouse. The robots, connected over the trial 5G network, transferred the orders created over the Internet to a joint task manager via the order-management system. The orders were then transferred to the robots in the warehouse via 5G.

In this demonstration, the 5G-connected AMRs worked safely, efficiently, and smoothly over the wireless connection, said the company. They also operated with the task manager and the industrial area scanner placed in the blind spot, overcoming the anticipated challenges of Wi-Fi connections like disconnections and delays.

“We are experiencing a lot of difficulties in the use of mobile robots in industrial environments, especially in wireless communication over Wi-Fi in multi-robot applications,” recalled Hasan Ölmez, co-founder of Milvus Robotics. “Breakdowns, low speeds, narrowness of the broadcast area of access points, [and] delays in data transfer are the main problems.”

“We think that 5G will be the new standard of industrial communication infrastructure in the near future due to the features it offers and solutions to these problems,” he added. “As a result of these tests, we have discovered the performance differences between Wi-Fi and 5G. We are very pleased to say that our robots can also work in harmony with 5G and that we have made this transition smoothly.”

Turkcell plans to offer private service

The demonstration highlighted the ability of 5G and private networks to enable Turkish manufacturers to process and manage substantial amounts of data with artificial intelligence, said Turkcell. This allows the free movement of multiple AMRs around a production environment with a high density of connected devices, the Istanbul-based company said.

After the successful use-case demonstration, Turkcell said it plans to start providing reliable, fast, and secure 5G ready private connectivity to its enterprise customers in the logistics sector, as well as other vertical industries. The Ericsson Private 5G (EP5G) “end-to-end” system will provide support.

“As a leading digitalization brand in Turkey, we continue to develop innovative technologies for the future,” said Gediz Sezgin, chief technology officer at Turkcell. “Acting with a human-oriented approach in all of our processes, Turkcell develops technologies that make life easier for institutions and people. Thanks to our cooperation with our national and international solution partners on technology, we develop innovative solutions for the needs and demands of different sectors with the aim of adding value to Turkey in the field of technology.”

“We have demonstrated one of the first examples of this with the AMR demo,” he said. “We are committed to work together with our partners, like Ericsson, to implement the latest technologies and solutions that support the industrial transformation processes of businesses in Turkey.”

Ericsson sees potential for connected industry in Turkey

“As the demand of industries to connect more devices rises, so does the need for high-quality networks,” said Işıl Yalçın, vice president and head of Ericsson Turkey at Ericsson Middle East and Africa. “EP5G is the prime choice for secure and efficient connectivity with high throughput and low latency that supports many use cases.”

“It is expected that 5G technology will become the standard of industrial communication infrastructure in the very near future, considering the necessity of connections and communications, especially for Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0,” she added.

“Working together with Turkcell and Milvus Robotics on this use case, it is evident that the future is very promising,” Yalçın said. “We are committed to support Turkcell and industries in more use cases to open the doors wider to the digital future of Turkey by using Ericsson Private Network solutions.”

In its “Connected Manufacturing: A Guide to Industry 4.0” report, Ericsson examines the use of AMRs in real-time production. The telecommunications provider said it is one of the most important use cases in an enterprise’s Industry 4.0 transformation journey.

“The successful AMR demonstration has brought Turkcell one step closer to offering solutions that propel enterprises across Turkey in their industrial transformation journeys,” said Ericsson.