Description

The fourth and fifth industrial revolutions, also known as Industry 4.0 and 5.0, will bring digital transformation to production chains through next-generation corporate networks. With this transformation, the capture and exchange of data between machines, actuator devices, sensors, robots and people will be carried out through a totally digital ecosystem, much more efficient, flexible, resilient and fault tolerant.

To achieve this goal, advanced 5G/6G wireless communications technologies and Time Sensitive Networks (TSN) will be key. Specifically, advanced 5G/6G wireless systems will complement and even replace wired connections on the production floor. This implies much more flexible deployments, with lower installation costs. On the other hand, TSN encompasses a set of standards to provide deterministic communications (that is, with limited and guaranteed latency and bit rate performance), reliable and high performance.

The 6GNETWORKS-LAB is an infraestructure project that provides an experimentation platform with the necessary advanced 5G/6G wireless communications technologies and equipment for the study and evaluation of the most relevant use cases in robotics and industry 4.0 and 5.0 applications. Specifically, 6GNETWORKS-LAB will provide:

• Experimental evaluation of advanced 5G and 6G technologies, including ultra-reliable low-latency communications, Time Sensitive Communications, and operation in millimeter wave bands.
• Transport of AI/ML and IoT data streams, enabling the collection of real-time datasets and the training of machine learning models directly over the communication infrastructure.
• Research and experimentation on robotic applications, leveraging advanced 5G and 6G features to enable real-time control, coordination, and interaction of robotic systems.
• Integration of advanced 5G/6G with TSN, supporting deterministic and synchronized communication for critical applications.
• The deployment of a digital twin environment for Industry 4.0, allowing the evaluation of 5G/5G-Advanced configurations and their impact on the performance of industrial production plants.

To achieve those goals the 6GNETWORKS-LAB project includes the following equipment:

Radio network equipment

• 5G Network for Laboratory Deployment (Amari CallBox Advanced). Integrated 4G/5G test and validation platform combining gNB, EPC and UE simulations in a single system from Amarisoft vendor. It includes two high-performance SDR cards that allow multiple radio configurations, such as two FR1 cells of 100 MHz each with 4x4 MIMO, one FR1 cell with 8x8 MIMO, or a single FR2 cell of 100 MHz with 2x2 MIMO. The system supports both NSA and SA modes, full 3GPP protocol stack, and comprehensive monitoring via Amarisoft Web GUI and Remote API. Support for 3GPP Release 17.
• AMARI NW FR2 Option license and FR2 hardware package (24~30GHz). This license and hardware equipment allow the capabilities of the Callbox Advanced base station to be extended to support millimeter bands (FR2 in 24-30 GHz, n257/n258/n261), thus allowing much higher performance in terms of bandwidth and latency.
• UE Emulator (Amari UE SimBox MBS). This equipment includes a high-performance PC with 3 SDRs to emulate up to 64 independent 4G/5G user terminals with full traffic and mobility control, allowing performance, capacity and stability testing in virtualized network environments. Support for 3GPP Release 17. It also includes support for FR2.
• Outdoor 5G Private Network deployed at University of Granada (CITIC and ETSIIT buildings). Deployment of three 4x4 MIMO outdoor base stations operating in the n77 band (3700-4100 MHz) with up to 33 dBm transmit power per port. Compliant with 3GPP TS 38.104 specifications and IP65-rated for reliable outdoor deployment. RU model is AW2S 5G NEO 44 MIMO. Antennae model is AW3923-T0-F from Alpha Wireless. And BBU from Amarisoft. Support for 3GPP Release 17. The base stations are deployed at the rooftops of the CITIC and ETSIIT of the University of Granada.
• RF Test Shielded Enclosure (Labifix LBX1000). Faraday cage that, thanks to its electromagnetic isolation up to 8 GHz, allows laboratory experiments to be carried out without the need for licensed frequencies in the 5G band. For outdoor experiments, a license for research in the n77 band has been requested from the Ministry. Connectors for power, USB (for device control), and antennas (for base station connection) are included to create a complete, manageable experimentation environment right out of the box.

TSN network equipment

• 2 TSN switches with 8 1Gbps SFP ports, with 802.1Q VLAN tagging, 802.1Qbv time-aware traffic shaping, 802.1CB redundant transmissions, 802.1AS implementation, which provides the specific PTP profile for TSN systems (gPTP) for time synchronization.
• 16 fiber SFP modules, 1000BASE-BX10, for TSN switches.

Industrial Use Case Equipment

• FAS-200 SE I4.0 Automated Flexible Assembly Cell - Pneumatic configuration, from the manufacturer SMC: The FAS-200 Industry 4.0 Special Edition system simulates a real assembly process with five different manufacturing stages: 1. Assembly, 2. Handling, 3. Quality Inspection, 4. Transfer, 5. Warehouse and Expedition. It integrates Industry 4.0 technologies: advanced electropneumatics, vacuum technology, sensors, UID (Unique Identifier Device): RFID identification systems and binary identification systems, Smart IO-link sensors, Smart light and sound device with IO-link, Artificial vision, Servo-controlled electric actuators, Industrial controllers (Ethernet communication), HMI, Augmented Reality, Distributed Inputs and Outputs, and Failure generation systems. The system is accompanied by a SCADA application to supervise the process carried out, and an online integrated MES Production Execution system. The FAS-200 system is required to deploy an Industry 4.0 factory production system with an industrial network to serve as a proving ground for evaluating PROFINET/TSN and Advanced 5G/6G network deployments.
• Tiago Mobile Collaborative Manipulator Robot (from PAL Robotics + Telefonica)), combines a mobile omnidirectional base and a 7-DoF manipulator arm, making it ideal for advanced research and Industry 4.0/5.0 applications. It features a navigation system based on Nav2, a graphical user interface with MoveIt!, and an extensive set of sensors — including 3D LIDAR, RGB-D cameras, and an IMU — enabling autonomous navigation, object manipulation, and human–robot interaction.
• Autonomous Mobile Robot for Indoor/Outdoor Environments (LEO Rover), Compact four-wheel robotic platform equipped with DC hub motors and planetary gearboxes, suitable for both indoor and outdoor research applications. Based on Ubuntu 20.04 and ROS/ROS2, it supports remote control, video streaming, and easy integration of LiDAR or stereo vision sensors for autonomous navigation experiments.
• Haptic gloves NOVA 2 (from SenseGlove) (left and right), with accessories to integrate Oculus and HTC controllers, and communication and development software SenseComm, SDK for Unity and SDK for Unreal engine. Together with the robotic arm, it will allow the evaluation of the use of the TSN and Advanced 5G/6G prototypes in communications for the remote control of robotic arms by means of haptic gloves.
• Virtual reality glasses with controls (META Quest 3). These glasses are necessary to allow the user to visualize the effect of remote control of the robotic arm with the haptic gloves.