Press Release

Opening speeches for the 5G Craft x 5G Arena competition

Taiwan’s Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs commissioned the Information Industry Promotion Association to hold its second "5G Craft Elite Challenge - 5G Arena Competition." The main focus of this year’s competition was open 5G and smart manufacturing with "field and industrial problem solving." Teams were invited to our 5G x AI Open Lab to conduct end-to-end field demonstrations and to display their results as the next leg of the competition. Not only does this drive the industry to quickly integrate software, hardware and application services, but it also helps in the development of innovative solutions that can be transferred to real-world businesses.

The 5G Arena competition kicked off in April of this year, attracting the attention of news outlets and enthusiastic participants. A total of 13 teams signed up to participate in the theme of smart manufacturing, the qualifying teams then entered 5G field demonstrations to conduct 5G private network tests. This fits perfectly with what Quanta and QCT is promoting with its 5G x AI Open Lab and E5G solution as we can provide a 5G private network environment for teams to conduct end-to-end implementation, development, and testing to enhance the effectiveness of field evidence. Therefore, QCT’s 5G x AI Open Lab was chosen to host this prestigious event and serve as a validation site. 

Below is a review of each section of the 5G x AI Open Lab exhibit for the 5G Arena competition:

LaserKatana Precision Mechanic's "Dark Chain” solution was put on display to show a smart production line that takes advantage of 5G’s low latency to take old equipment into Industry 4.0. The Dark Chain architecture has stronger network penetration, simple operation and more flexibility, helping machines like those of CNC production, that were built many years ago, create less data traffic and to achieve automation in smart factories by being easily connected to various management systems. This is especially suitable for production line reconstructions with PLC basic communication capabilities that want to accomplish digital transformation. Dark Chain re-compiles the signals of old machines into packets with reduced traffic in different communication protocols, making the transmission speed much faster. Not only can the number of connected devices increase, but the overall efficiency can be increased by ten to a hundred times. Also with 5G communication technology, wiring costs can be eliminated.

The following area showed a smart inspection project by Luci Co., Ltd that combines AIoT, AR, GIS and indoor and outdoor positioning technology. The inspection task is an indispensable part of a smart factory. Many people who have dealt with manual inspections may know that the process can be cumbersome, as it relies on a lot of paper documents. However, with this Luci’s INHOWS solution, factory inspection can be carried out through a mobile device and AR glasses. The mobile device’s camera and AR glasses act as an inspection point that can display the relevant information of a machine or pipeline. Through the use of 5G, a remotely controlled monitoring center can also survey the location of personnel at any time, and with AR glasses they can see everything they see and also view their vital signals. Therefore, if an accident were to occur, quick detection and warnings can trigger prompt rescue actions to be carried out.

Postsapiens remote obstacle removal system showed a use case that allows personnel to control a robot arm from a remote area through gestures leveraging a cloud and edge computing interface. With this solution one can remove an obstructing object by clipping or pulling it away. The idea for this system comes from the fact that if a smart factory uses robots to perform inspection tasks, it can encounter obstacles that could stop an entire process. If this were to happen in a workplace today, it would be necessary to first report the matter to the control center first, and then send personnel to the scene, which is not efficient and time consuming. With this innovative solution, obstacles can be removed by a remotely controlled robotic arm in real time, saving time and number of personnel interventions.

The final area showed our own QCT OmniPod use cases, that range from safety AI for robotic arms, AR for Information Visualization, AR for Cabling Installation, AR for Training and Repair, and AMR Material Transportation. Composed of a Standalone 5G Core and a flexible system configuration for RAN to fulfill diverse coverage and capacity requirements. OmniPod supports single-site and multi-site Enterprise 5G deployments depending on the scenario. Many of our own use cases echo the projects by the above teams. Safety is addressed with virtual fencing, our own collaborations with Panasonic also carries out inspections and transportation of raw materials, and training and repair is carried out through the use of AR glasses.

"QCT is honored to have our 5G x AI Open Lab serve as the validation site for the 5G Craft x 5G Arena competition,” said Mike Yang, President of QCT, “as the commercialization of 5G private networks requires not only infrastructures but also innovative business models and solutions, this experience allows the application teams to enjoy the benefits of 5G and provides an opportunity for the private network team to further improve its services.”

Due to the amount of manufacturing supply chains in Taiwan, the island has the best verification field and developmental potential. The participating teams of this year's 5G Craft x 5G Arena competition demonstrated innovative and highly feasible ideas that are close to market demand with rich experiences in the industry and software and hardware integration capabilities. In the future, through further promotion and matchmaking, commercial fields can be introduced, driving the upgrading of domestic smart manufacturing, and have the opportunity to enter the international market and carry out new business opportunities.

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