Ericsson this week announced that it is fueling UK vehicle battery maker Hyperbat's Industry 4.0 drive with 5G VR with a technology trial.
The trials are set to establish Hyperbat, a joint venture between Williams Advanced Engineering and Unipart, as a pioneer in the UK’s drive to make fourth industrial revolution manufacturing a reality.
A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical object – in intricate and specific detail – viewed through a digital interface, such as virtual reality glasses. In the case of Hyperbat, the technology will allow design, engineering and manufacturing experts to cooperate on a 3D engineering blueprint from various locations to impact physical products at the company’s Coventry production complex.
Hyperbat design and engineering teams will be able to virtually walk around and interact with 3D life-size objects in real time through a single self-contained device. Employees in different locations will be able to build a 1:1 scale physical product on the factory floor, review designs in real time, explore form factors such as maintenance and crash detection of an electric vehicle and retro fit high-performance batteries into specific dimensions.
The key enabler is the high speed, low latency and large data handling capabilities of an Ericsson 5G mobile private network deployed by BT and integrated by Ericsson’s D-15 Labs in Santa Clara, California. The technology has the potential to transform the traditional manufacturing process through efficiency gains in product management systems, supply chain and factory operations.
The BT and Ericsson 5G VR digital twin solution will be deployed on a 5G mobile private network, with Qualcomm’s 5G native VR headset and Masters of Pie platform. This will enable Hyperbat to use cloud-based mixed reality within computer-aided design (CAD) software. The solution will be run over Dell’s high-performance edge compute platform and includes cutting-edge hardware from NVIDIA to seamlessly integrate into existing factory floor operations.
Björn Odenhammar, CTO, Networks and Managed Services, Ericsson UK and Ireland
This collaboration with BT, Hyperbat and other eco-system partners is another demonstration of how low latency, edge compute and wireless networking will be critical to digitalisation within the enterprise sector.
Hosein Torabmostaedi, Manufacturing Digital and Innovation Manager, Unipart
The solution is mainly targeted at collaborative mobile workforce with the use of 5G native headsets and seamless integration of design and manufacturing systems with the digital twin technologies.
