Edge/Cloud-based Control of Automated Guided Vehicles

This PoC demonstrates the concept of cloud-based control of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and robots in a factory workshop environment, based on an underlying Passive Optical Network (PON) infrastructure. The PON is set up between the Fraunhofer HHI (F5G OpenLab) and Fraunhofer IPK. As such, in order to demonstrate the performance of the PON, parts of the AGV and robot control software are migrated to an edge cloud at HHI, while the components/hardware to be controlled (AGVs and robots) are located at IPK. The cloud-based AGV and robot controls are shown in two simplified scenarios. Here, a simple pick & place task is demonstrated with a marker-based localization of the robot arm on the AGV relative to a stationary object. In this case, the marker-based localization functionality is executed on the edge cloud. The features of this PoC include an end-to-end AGV control loop and cloud-based control of robots, powered by a PON-based fiber connectivity between the edge cloud and production site, where the factory shop floor is served by WiFi-enabled ONUs.

PoC Team Members: Fraunhofer HHI, Fraunhofer IPK, German Edge Cloud, Huawei