The manufacturing industry faces major challenges due to labor shortages in international competition. Production processes must become smarter, more flexible, and increasingly data-driven.
Due to the increasing shortage of technically skilled personnel, it is becoming more important to organise production processes more efficiently and intelligently.
Traditional industrial production systems are typically built around fixed, wired infrastructure. While reliable, this infrastructure is restrictive and not flexible enough for the modern factory. This makes it difficult for robots to move freely through dynamic production environments. Wireless networks offer new opportunities to adapt factories and scale processes. Think of mobile robots that can navigate autonomously through a factory or warehouse, carry out inspections or move materials.
Reliable wireless communication keeps these robots continuously connected, allowing them to exchange data with machines and employees. This enables robots to be deployed more flexibly and, in the future, increasingly collaborate with employees in real time. Through the Wireless Factory of the Future project, Do IoT Fieldlab is exploring and demonstrating how 5G, Beyond 5G and future 6G technologies can transform production processes.
The factory of the future is no longer tied to cables. Robots are playing an increasingly important role in production processes: taking on heavy and repetitive tasks, supporting workers with precision operations, and contributing to a safer and more efficient working environment. At SAM XL, part of the National 6G Testbed, we are building a private 5G and Beyond 5G infrastructure that enables robots, sensors, edge AI and other systems to communicate in real time. We are exploring how connectivity can support mobile robots, remote control and complex production tasks such as intelligent drilling and milling.
At the same time, we are testing and validating these technologies in a realistic factory environment while developing knowledge and skills among students and professionals. Step by step, we are building a more flexible, smarter and more connected factory of the future.
Ask your question. You provide the ideas, we provide the connection – both human and wireless.
This project explores how AI, edge computing and private 5G can enhance technical education by connecting smart glasses with a digital learning platform.
Worldwide, weather is becoming more erratic, and excesses of drought and heavy rainfall are increasing. Current technologies for predicting rain, including radars, satellites, and weather models, are not accurate enough.
For many organisations in horticulture, gaining valuable insights into work processes is fundamental to continuous improvement and meeting industry standards. With this goal in mind, Opus Solutions B.V. has developed the OPUS watch, a smart watch specifically for this sector. However, the connectivity required to track activities isn’t always guaranteed in environments dominated by extensive glass and metal structures, such as greenhouses.
The Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector is facing a pressing challenge: while the workload continues to increase, skilled labour is increasingly scarce. There is no shortage of tasks, only of hands to do them. How can we ensure that productivity and sustainability remain safeguarded? The Telegreen project may offer an answer: a collaboration between academia and companies developing an innovative humanoid arm that will support employees and secure the future of the sector.
ExRobotics, the global market leader in autonomous inspection robots within extreme conditions, wants to further develop current robots with 5G technology. In this project, ExRobotics will use Do IoT Fieldlab’s 5G facilities to develop a design and first prototype of a 5G-enabled inspection robot. In addition, the most stringent safety certification is being prepared.
Frontier, a Dutch company specialising in connectivity, is investigating the possibilities and benefits of 5G for the Dutch emergency services. Fire brigades, police and ambulances need real-time data to make fast, reliable and accurate decisions in any scenario. This involves the use of increasingly innovative means, such as drones and robots.
AccessHub, a Dutch company offering communication and data management services, aims to develop a highly secure platform for future digital applications. The objective is to help companies connect different devices safely and easily to innovative 5G data-driven services and applications.
SenseGlove, an innovative start-up specialised in Virtual Reality, wants to elevate virtual training of industrial employees to a higher level. With the use of ‘extended reality’ (XR) techniques, a fully simulated work environment is created.
