Towards a 5G Mobile Edge Cloud Planner for Autonomous Mobile Robots

Abstract

As the use of robots increases in industrial environments, there is a need for enhanced centralized cloud management to improve coordination and planning capabilities. This paper explores the suitability of different 5G schemes for migrating robot intelligence to the cloud by communicating the I/O systems of an AMR with a cloud path planner. The paper includes the analysis of the TCP-based I/O-planner communication and puts it in perspective of 5G mobile edge cloud technology. The observed Mbit/s throughput and statistical uplink/downlink splits of the communication indicate that 5G is a suitable technology to reliably operate the planner. This was further validated by 5G emulation, performing a navigation test and a docking station tests, where the cloud-based system operated over the different 5G configurations achieved a performance and accuracy similar to that from the original on-board local planner.