5G commercialization scenarios are becoming increasingly popular, and AI assistants make "rookies" become experts
Author/ IT Times reporter Jia Tianrong
Editor/ Hao Junhui Sun Yan
From June 26 to 28, the 2024 Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicked off in Shanghai, with the theme MWCS2024 of "Future First", focusing on the three sub-themes of "Beyond 5G", "Artificial Intelligence Economy" and "Digital Intelligent Manufacturing", with more than 8,000 companies from 115 countries and regions participating. On the open stage of MWC, various industry intelligent connection application scenarios extend from industrial production to daily life.
As one of the three sub-themes of this conference, "Digital Intelligent Manufacturing" will lead us to deeply discuss how to improve the efficiency and productivity of factories in the intelligent era.
The large model makes industrial 5G landing
5G has always been a hot topic at MWC, and this year is no exception. The advancement of 5G-A is accelerating the core upgrade of the industrial Internet, and its ultra-low latency and high reliability meet the strict needs of the industry for the network, and the industry has ushered in new changes.
Although he has been exploring in practice for five years, Jing Jie, chairman of Shanghai Shanyuan Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., still feels that the comprehensive application of 5G in the industrial field has not met expectations, especially in the ToC-oriented field, and the perception is not profound.
Even though 5G-A has brought a leap forward in high speed, low latency, and large connections, the changes in the application level in the industrial field are still not obvious.
"5G and 5G-A have successfully connected tens of thousands of sensors and tens of thousands of devices, but they have not provided decision-making and service optimization after the connection." In Jingjie's view, 5G needs to be deeply integrated with big data models, artificial intelligence and other technologies to form a closed-loop ecosystem of data, sensing, and decision-making in order to truly unleash its potential.
At the Shanyuan Technology booth, the reporter saw a vivid example of the application of 5G+AI technology in the mine. The mining AR glasses worn by miners when they go to the mine can not only "speak" and "video", but also "eighteen kinds of martial arts".
With the AI smart box loaded with 5G communication motherboard and AI computing power chip, miners can achieve one-click scheduling, group intercom, mobile broadcasting, visual call, remote maintenance, precise positioning, law enforcement records and monitoring in the mining scene, and at the same time, sensor terminals such as smart bracelets can realize mobile environment monitoring and real-time upload of vital signs data such as blood oxygen, sleep, and heart rate, and can realize SIP real-time voice, emergency broadcasting, text messaging, and job collaboration in the Wi-Fi environment.
The application of 5G and AI in the mining field not only liberates miners from the "painful and dirty" environment, but also promotes the intelligent transformation of mines. Through the comprehensive application of control, video, audio, communication, hydraulics and other technologies, the mine has realized the automatic production mode of "automatic control of the working face, supplemented by remote intervention and control of the monitoring center", and the mining of "unmanned operation and manned safety on duty", reducing the number of workers operating the working face, while having the characteristics of "efficient, environmentally friendly, safe and reliable".
On the other hand, in the coal mining industry, with the continuous upgrading of 5G technology, the requirements for talents are getting higher and higher. Jing Jie believes that this does not meet the actual needs of the industry. To this end, Shanyuan Technology and Baidu jointly launched the SafeGPT industry model, focusing on the field of risk control and hidden danger management, helping mining operations to achieve the goals of reducing staff and increasing efficiency, improving safety and promoting low-carbon operations.
"Our goal is for a one-year graduate student to have the same level of technical expertise as a technical expert who has been in the industry for 20 years."
Today, these technologies have been deployed in coal mines in Shanxi, Hefei and other places, and more than 10 projects are expected to be put into operation this year.
Is the "Black Light Factory" closer?
In the memory of Bai Rui, the Chinese ambassador of the 5G-ACIA of the 5G Connected Industry and Automation Alliance, when talking about 5G scenarios, many factory examples were experimental scenarios, and now, more and more commercial scenarios have begun to appear.
Technological progress has undoubtedly laid a more solid foundation for the realization of the "black light factory".
At the ZTE booth, a single-arm robot efficiently performs the assembly line operation of network cables and optical modules, which is not only a corner of the technology demonstration, but also a frequent visitor to the production line at ZTE's Nanjing Binjiang base, replacing human work and promoting the factory to move towards a "black light factory".
The on-site staff told the "IT Times" reporter that the first generation of robots led the realization of end-to-end automation of the production line, and the second generation was further upgraded on this basis, they can adapt to the needs of different products, with better mobility, collaborative work ability and higher level of intelligence, which is due to the transformation of the algorithm model from small to large, that is, from the early small model with limited parameters to the large model with larger training volume and more accurate algorithms, making the operation of the robot more smooth and intelligent. For example, the action of plugging in the network cable is faster and more accurate.
By integrating advanced technologies such as robots, machine vision, and 5G+ digital twins, enterprises will integrate intelligence into every aspect of R&D, production and operation, greatly improving the overall production efficiency. In particular, the introduction of 5G-A technology, using the deployment of millimeter wave base stations, has greatly improved the uplink rate, for example, the lecturer said that the 20 high-definition photos that used to take one minute to upload are now only 20 seconds through millimeter wave technology, which significantly accelerates the production rhythm and optimizes the efficiency of the production line.
The cost reduction brought about by technological progress has lowered the threshold for "black light factories". On-site technical experts told the "IT Times" reporter that the cost of 5G modules was as high as thousands of yuan when they first came out, but with the maturity and large-scale application of 5G technology, the cost of modules has dropped sharply to several hundred yuan. The advancement of 5G-A technology, especially the emergence of the RedCap module, has further reduced the cost to about 200 yuan, which means that the implementation of the same function requires only one-fifth of the investment required a few years ago.
The lowering of the technical threshold provides convenient conditions for the intelligent transformation of more enterprises, and also indicates the widespread popularization and cost-effective optimization of "black light factories" and other intelligent production modes in the future.
Shanyuan Technology staff told the IT Times reporter that in the past, coal mine operations relied on fixed lines (such as optical fibers and cables) to connect equipment, which not only complicated wiring, high maintenance costs, but also limited the mobility and flexibility of equipment.
The application of 5G technology, especially with the reduction of base station costs and the improvement of power efficiency, has made wireless networks possible, greatly simplifying the communication infrastructure of coal mines. By arranging base stations and sensors inside and outside the roadway, the full coverage of wireless signals is realized, which not only reduces complicated wiring, reduces maintenance costs, but also improves the stability and reliability of the system.
What's more, the low latency and high bandwidth of 5G technology make it possible to operate on the surface, allowing coal drivers to move from underground to work on the safety console on the surface, greatly improving operational safety and personnel comfort. At the same time, the deployment of a large number of sensors and data collection equipment can monitor the mine environment and equipment status in real time, reduce the dependence on manual inspection, and further improve the efficiency and safety of operations.
It is foreseeable that as technology continues to evolve, the performance of wireless communication will be further optimized, not only to support the efficient connection of more devices, but also to make data analysis, automated control, and remote operation more accurate and agile. This means that in the future, more industrial fields will be able to achieve a higher degree of automation and intelligence, and they will be one step closer to the "black light factory".
"All industries are facing their own challenges on the road to Industry 4.0 transformation, including the need for large-scale data upstream, sensitivity to low latency, and requirements for network stability." Bai Rui said that the 5G private network has unlimited potential in simplifying the layout of factories and promoting unmanned "black light factories" through wireless transformation.
"5G is gradually transforming into practice, although the pace is slower than we expected, but there are more and more signs that industrial 5G is getting better and more stable." Barry said.
Typesetting / Ji Jiaying
Photo/ IT Times
Source/"IT Times" official account vittimes
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