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| Workers demonstrate an industrial internet of things system for smart factories by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) at the business support center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. / Courtesy of ETRI |
By Yoon Sung-won
Korean researchers have developed a technology to remotely control smart factories using cellular telecom networks, according to the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Wednesday.
The institute said it has successfully demonstrated the industrial internet of things (IIoT) service, which enables control of factory automation systems on mobile devices, for the first time in Korea.
ETRI said it will continue to develop IIoT service technologies such as industrial telecom base stations and energy-efficient IoT devices, aiming at fostering small- and medium-sized enterprises here.
"The new IIoT service will expedite deployment of smart factory systems for manufacturing automation," ETRI's fifth-generation (5G) service research unit head Chung Hyun-kyu said.
"We will concentrate on improving telecom stability in remotely controlling complex manufacturing lines to make the service better adopted at smart factories."
Backed by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the institute has researched and developed the technology since March under cooperation with KT and the Korea Institute of Industry Technology.
Before the new IIoT technology, factory operators have used wired communication infrastructure to control manufacturing equipment. Despite its high reliability, the wired network-based system didn't offer mobility and thus had problems in safety and applicability. Local area wireless networks such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have also been considered unfit for smart factories due to their short communicable ranges.
ETRI said it has applied cellular telecom technologies based on smartphones to the new IIoT service to allow factory operators to control the equipment even when they are away from the machines.
Earlier in February, the institute produced a prototype of narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) device that meets global standards. Because NB-IoT devices are capable of long-range telecommunication while consuming a small amount of electricity, workplaces have increasingly been introducing them.
Once the new IIoT service is released in the market, it can collect operational information of manufacturing equipment through detachable sensors and manage and analyze the data on wide-range networks. Operators can also use the 5G telecom technologies and robots to change the production on real-time demand, enabling true tailor-made manufacturing, according to the institute.
