LG Uplus unveils 5G-connected smart factory system

By Jun Ji-hye

LG Uplus unveiled its smart factory system available through fifth-generation (5G) network services in cooperation with LG Electronics and LG CNS at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 in Barcelona, Monday.

The Korean telecom company said its smart factory system has been created through synergy between its 5G networks, LG Electronics' experiences in constructing factories and LG CNS' platform technologies.

At the MWC, the world's largest mobile show that runs until Thursday, the mobile carrier demonstrated the smart factory system by connecting the MWC site in real time to an LG factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

During the demonstration, the company showed the autonomous mobile robot system, dubbed Mobile Manipulator Specification, and the environment monitoring system that controls temperature and humidity of the factory. The firm also showed the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered quality test system.

The high-speed and low-latency features of 5G networks are essential to operate the smart factory system in which various robot systems exchange a vast amount of data in real time.

LG Uplus said the smart factory system will become a key to innovation in the manufacturing industry.

“Once 5G services are fully commercialized, an increasing number of smart factory systems will emerge,” said Choi Joo-sik, an executive vice president at LG Uplus. “We will explore various killer services to dominate the market in advance.”

The Mobile Manipulator Specification controls the movement of autonomous mobile robots and offers them the optimal route to carry out logistics. When any obstacles are found, the route is changed automatically. Workers can monitor the conditions of the robots, such as their battery status and locations in and outside the factory in real time.

LG Uplus said the role of the environment monitoring system is also important in operating factories where maintenance of appropriate environmental conditions is required.

The firm installed sensors in the autonomous mobile robots so they can detect environment information of the factory while moving. Then, LG CNS' internet of things (IoT) platform, called INFioT, remotely monitors the state of the environment such as gas density in the factory.

Other key features unveiled included an AI-powered quality test based on image analysis technology. LG Uplus said the system sorts out faulty goods more accurately compared to human workers, noting this will help reduce time required to carry out the quality test.