On the same day, BT announced plans to build a private 5G network at UK manufacturing company Worcester Bosch.
The Nokia 5G standalone private wireless network is being used by Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology at its Tampere-based test mine.
Patrick Murphy, president of rock drills and technologies at Sandvik, said: “As we work with our customers to help them leverage technology to digitalise their operations, the introduction of 5G opens the door to new opportunities in robotics, remote and autonomous operations, full-fleet automation, analytics and enhanced safety. As such, it comprises a breakthrough in the digital transformation of mining.”
The system has voice and video communications capability and mining automation with integrated 4K video, said Nokia.
Stephan Litjens, general manager of Nokia’s digital automation cloud, said: “We’re supporting Sandvik to realise not only its own digital transformation goals, but also those of the wider industry as it continues to deliver value to mining customers worldwide.”
Sandvik demonstrated the accuracy with which 5G can control large equipment by posting a YouTube video of a giant digger (see picture) driving automatically around a glass maze. At the finish, after the digger stops millimetres from the end of the maze, Sandvik CEO Björn Rosengren takes control from the 5G and destroys the maze.
BT chose the same day to reveal it is working with the Worcestershire 5G Testbed (W5G) as its lead technology partner to accelerate its vision of smart manufacturing delivered through the UK’s first live 5G factory installation.
That will be in a UK central-heating boiler factory owned by Worcester Bosch, in the city of Worcester.
BT said it is also working with the Malvern Hills Science Park in nearby Great Malvern for the W5G project. Both sites will use Ericsson 5G equipment, with resources from BT’s EE mobile labs in Borehamwood, north of London.
Worcester Bosch will install smart manufacturing across its factory through 5G, internet of things (IoT), edge computing and autonomous robots.
BT is providing its expertise across 5G private networks, wearable devices, IoT, data analytics and mobile edge computing. The combination of these technologies will make intelligent, dynamic and fully automated manufacturing processes a reality, said BT.
Gerry McQuade, CEO of BT’s enterprise business, said: “We’re creating a smart factory where machines can learn and adapt to changes on the factory floor as they happen, and make instant, autonomous decisions to optimise the production line.”
McQuade added: “The digital transformation of manufacturing processes will be critical in rebooting the sector and driving regional regeneration across the UK. We’re really excited to be at the forefront of making this a reality.”
Worcester Bosch CEO Carl Arntzen said: “We have learnt an awful lot within the W5G Testbed, both about the 5G network itself, but most importantly about the skills and competencies we need in-house, and what data to stream in order to develop a real-time understanding of the behaviour of various machines.”
