Have you wondered the experience of driving a robot remotely using 5G network? The Robot Assisted Driving Toolbox equipped with 5G router connected to M1 5G (SA) network provides excellent driving experiences by having very low latency (~40ms comparing with 200+ms of 4G), ultra bandwidth (streaming 5 cameras together). Thanks to the great support provided by M1 (Singapore) and National University of Singapore, who work together to provide us the 5G test environment for our UGV.

Due to the limitation of 5G infrastructure in many cities, most UGVs deployed in the field equip with 4G/LTE connectivity, which provides acceptable latency and bandwidth for remote driving. However, if we want to stream multiple cameras, and/or with 2D/3D lidar data for more confident remote control, the 4G/LTE network won't be able to provide enough bandwidth due to the overwhelming amount of data. Thus, we normally stream minimal set of data for remote driving, e.g., the front camera with low-volume ultrasonic or TOF data. All of the above limitations are totally removed with 5G network, especially with 5G SA infrastructure, the latency between a 5G-enabled robot in the field and a Wi-Fi-connected client is within 50ms, and the bandwidth, technically speaking, is almost 10x more comparing with 4G network. The following videos showing the comparison of remote driving using Weston Robot’s Robot Assisted Driving Toolbox between 4G-connected UGV and 5G-connected UGV SCOUT.

Video: Robot Assisted Driving Toolbox with SCOUT UVG for Security Patrolling 

M1 and its sister company Keppel Land have introduced 5G (SA) services that cover most area in the premises of Marina Keppel Bay, where waterfront and yacht life attracted many users and visitors. With the 5G coverage, Weston Robot now can deploy many practical use robots in the field, such as remote driving patrolling and security surveillance robot, delivery robot (to yacht owners), and water cleaning robots. Our 5G-enabled UGVs can achieve 50ms latency with 5 cameras streaming simultaneously, which provides enough confidence for remote steering using Weston Robot in-house developed Robot Assisted Driving Toolbox.

Picture: M1 Deputy Director Khoo See Kiang Introduced Weston Robot 5G-Enabled UGV SCOUT

Picture: Keppel Chief Executive Louis Lim, M1 Chief Executive Manjot Singh Mann and other M1 leadership team, together with Prof. Zhang from Weston Robot ,  viewing Weston Robot Autonomous UGV equipped with M1 5G (SA). The UGV is capable of patrolling around the Marina Keppel Bay area using 5G-enabled remote-driving.

Picture: Weston Robot 5G-enabled UGV support remote steering