22-23 March 2022, Eastside Rooms, Birmingham
Perform Green and colleagues from partner organisations in the 5G Connected Automated Logistics (5G CAL) project participated in the 2022 UK5G Showcase event in Birmingham this week. The event represented a culmination of the collective efforts of over 50 projects, 200 organisations and numerous locations across the UK and countless individuals from across all sectors, who since 2018 have explored ways in which 5G can unlock benefits, ranging from supporting people to stay longer in their homes, to driving productivity and reducing waste.
5G CAL hosted a stand, one of more than 50 at the event. The team from 5G CAL included:
- Paul Butler (NEAA)
- Ross James (StreetDrone)
- Simon Edwards (Newcastle University)
- Shuo Li (Newcastle University)
- Mike Potts (StreetDrone)
- Richard Barrington (Perform Green)
- George Cressey (Perform Green)
- Becki Clark (Perform Green)
- Liz St Louis (Sunderland City Council)
The event aimed to recognise and celebrate achievements of projects in the 5G field, but also to:
- look at and share lessons learned and agree how they can be applied to activities beyond and outside the existing testbeds and trials.
- identify investment opportunities and reach consensus on steps taking the UK from 5G innovation to early market adoption.
It was a great event with a lot of incredibly interesting exhibits on show from 5G enabled robotic dogs patrolling the Eden project stand, to innovative use cases such as a 5G enabled pill that has been developed to revolutionise the endoscopy scene.
A fantastic display of the great and the good of the telecoms world.
5G CAL involves building an outdoor 5G Network for proving driverless ‘last mile’ HGV delivery in a live industrial setting. The project involves retrofitting a Terberg 40-tonne electric HGV so it can be autonomously driven and developing software so it is capable of being remotely controlled in case of experiencing situations that the autonomous capabilities cannot manage. 5G is essential in this scenario as it has low latency (lag from input to response) and bandwidth can be tuned to allow massive uplink of data – essential in this scenario.
The question we are seeking to answer is ‘can an autonomous EV-HGV be remotely controlled (or teleoperated), potentially removing the safety driver, reducing cost and improving operational efficiency.
The 5GCAL stand showcased footage from the testing to date, a view of the NDAC platform and a view of the Hitachi Visualisation Suite portal which showed the smart camera views. On the stand, we showcased a number of aspects of the project, including:
- with the 3-screen duplicate teleoperation station showing delegates a montage of Streetdrone’s autonomous and teleoperation testing to date
- another screen showed the Nokia NDAC platform
- the Hitachi Visualisation Suite was displayed on the final screen which provided a great view of the scale of the Nissan site.
It was great to see the team in action proudly showing off their work like proud parents proudly displaying the fruits of our collective labours over the past 20 months.
5G CAL speakers at the UK5G Showcase event included:
- Liz St Louis, Assistant Director of Smart Cities at Sunderland City Council gave presentations in two sessions, 5G in Urban Places and 5G in Transport and Logistics, both on Day One. examining how 5G can enhance existing and new modes of transportation and improve logistics efficiency through the adoption of 5G and ask which use cases are ready for scaling.
- Richard Barrington, Principal Consultant and Head of Business Development at Perform Green Ltd participated in the Day One Plenary Session on Lessons Learned and Forward Opportunities, reflecting on the UK’s 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme, with key findings and insights from 5G CAL.
- Becki Clark, Sustainability Consultant for Perform Green, participated in a panel discussion looking at mobile networks and environmental sustainability, providing insights, examine the issues arising from UK 5G trials, consider specific approaches to lower the RAN carbon budget and debate with the panel whether mobile networks are part of the problem, the solution, or both.
Day 1
Kicked off with a welcome and introduction with Ros Singleton, Chair of the UK5G Advisor Board and a visit from Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority.
It was great to hear valuable perspectives on the main investable opportunities in 5G services, and the technological enablers that can be harnessed to unlock economic growth and enhance societal benefit.
Topics covered were 5G in creative industries and 5G rural places 5G urban places 5G in Industrial & Manufacturing. 5G in health and social care. 5G in transport & logistics. The brochure can be downloaded here: Showcase Brochure
Day 2
Kicked off with two sessions, a keynote again from the Chair of the UK5G Advisory Board, Ros Singleton which asked respected leaders from the international stage to share insights on the key enablers and stimuli required to achieve significant market growth of 5g services. With a further session looking at how the development of policy and regulation of mobile telecoms will create further new opportunities for eco
nomic growth and societal benefit. A great day covering Diversification and the Role of Open RAN, fast-tracking innovation through accelerators, Private networks and the role of system integrators, cybersecurity challenges & opportunities.
Perform Green’s Becki Clark spoke at a panel session on Mobile Networks and Environmental Sustainability.
“It was a great opportunity to highlight the two roles mobile networks can have, in reducing their own inherent emissions through better product and energy efficiency, but also as the enabler for many technologies to assist society in reaching net zero,” she says. “Sitting alongside Hamish MacLeod (director of MobileUK), David Owens (head of technical trials, Virgin Media UK), Marko Jovanovic (Head of Marketing Strategy and Operations, Europe and Latin America, Ericsson), Mat Sears (corporate affairs director, BT) and Vicky Naylor (JET Engineering), this was a great panel to have that discussion and explore whether mobile networks are part of the problem, the solution, or both!”
Knowing how much hard work has gone into 5G CAL it was amazing to see all of the other testbeds and technologies in one place and talk about our shared experience.
Our journey doesn’t stop here. Lots of great things happening on the 5GCAL project, just arrived and installed at Vantec and currently being configured, a fully replicated set of Terberg controls.
To follow us and the 5GCAL project journey please link up with us on Twitter and Linkedin.
Many thanks to Simon Edwards from Newcastle University for contributing part of this event report.
