5G enables the industrial Internet to flourish

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5G remote ultrasonic robot diagnostic platform, bionic robot dog "Tiedan", 5G unmanned factory project... Recently, the 2021 China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference was held in Wuhan, Hubei. A large number of "black technology" products and 5G key technologies were unveiled, attracting a large number of audiences to watch and experience.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the second batch of "5G+Industrial Internet" typical application scenarios and key industry practices, including production process traceability, factory intelligent tallying, full-area logistics monitoring, virtual on-site services and other application scenarios, as well as petrochemical, building materials, textile, home appliances and other industries.

One is an important direction for the development of information and communication technology, and the other is the technical support for the new generation of industrial revolution. When 5G "meets" the industrial Internet, what magical changes will it bring to production and life? In the future, what development trend will "5G+Industrial Internet" present?

Fusion applications continue to expand

"We have applied 5G and industrial Internet technologies to the brewing industry. When equipment fails, technicians can use remote assistance tools to not only clearly see the workshop but also remotely control the equipment, so they can solve the problem without going to the site," said an employee of a Wuhan company.

Nowadays, with the help of 5G and industrial Internet, more and more traditional factories are becoming more "smart".

In the textile industry, some companies install 5G modules on sewing machines, inspection robots and other equipment to collect production, environmental and other data in real time and upload them to the edge cloud platform, which can intuitively present production, logistics and other information, increase production efficiency by 25% and shorten order delivery cycle by 10%.

In the home appliance industry, some companies use 5G, VR (virtual reality) and other technologies to display the details of home appliance assembly, allowing new employees to have an "immersive" experience and feel, helping them quickly master the technical essentials, thereby reducing training costs and greatly shortening the training and on-the-job time for new employees.

On November 21, the 2021 China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference focused on smart factories, smart security and other fields, and collected and selected 58 typical application cases. Among them, the Tianjin Provincial Industrial Internet Security Situation Awareness Platform Project is an application case in the field of smart security. Relying on the 360 ​​company's digital security capability framework, the project deploys a security monitoring platform to monitor the enterprise's security situation in real time, provide early warning information in a timely manner, support the rectification of safety hazards, and reduce the company's economic losses.

In addition, in the fields of smart mines, there are also many application cases shortlisted, such as the Laoshidan Coal Mine 5G+ Smart Mine Project of Wuhai Energy Co., Ltd. of the State Energy Group, and the 5G Smart Mine Project of Xinyan Coal Mine in Luliang, Shanxi.

Zhang Jianming, deputy director of the Science and Technology Development Department of the China Coal Industry Association, introduced that some coal mines have developed AR (augmented reality) glasses. Underground workers wear AR glasses to inspect equipment and can transmit video images in real time through the 5G network for reference and remote guidance by technicians on the ground.

"From these scenarios and cases, we can see that the application scope of '5G+Industrial Internet' has expanded and is more closely integrated with the production environment. This is a welcome change," said Yu Xiaohui, president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Wang Peng, deputy director of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that in recent years, the integrated applications of "5G+Industrial Internet" have been continuously enriched, and have taken the lead in forming typical application scenarios such as remote equipment control and unmanned intelligent inspections in industries such as mining, steel, and electricity. The benchmark demonstration and leading role has become increasingly prominent; the development environment continues to optimize, and the policy system continues to improve, which has effectively stimulated the enthusiasm of all parties in the industry to participate.

Broad space for future development

While "5G+Industrial Internet" promotes the transformation from "manufacturing" to "smart manufacturing", it also brings many conveniences to people's daily lives.

Some companies connect barcode scanners, industrial cameras, cameras and other equipment at the production site to the 5G network, and transmit information such as material codes, operators, and production equipment status of each process in the production process to the cloud platform in real time, and integrate this information to form a traceability database. People only need to scan the QR code on the product with their mobile phone to see information such as product batch and quality, which makes them feel more assured when using it.

In the field of smart healthcare, 5G applications such as remote consultation and remote surgery have promoted the downward flow of high-quality medical resources, allowing more patients in remote areas to receive treatment.

"We have performed many cases of 5G remote fundus laser surgery," Chen Youxin, director of the Department of Ophthalmology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, told reporters. During remote laser fundus surgery, doctors need to observe the patient's real-time high-definition fundus images, etc. The 5G network can ensure real-time communication during the treatment process, ensuring laser accuracy and treatment safety.

"Enabling intelligent upgrades in all industries is the fundamental purpose of developing '5G+Industrial Internet'." Han Xia, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the innovative development of 5G and Industrial Internet in my country presents a good trend of "a thousand forms and a hundred flowers blooming". The three major functional systems of Industrial Internet network, platform and security have taken shape. Basic telecommunications companies, industrial companies, communication equipment companies and software companies have cooperated deeply to form a diversified business operation model. The "team competition" has become more mature, and the pattern of regional coordinated development has become clearer.

Han Xia believes that "5G+Industrial Internet" has broad development space and unlimited potential in the future. According to statistics, there are more than 1,800 "5G+Industrial Internet" projects under construction across the country, covering multiple industries and fields such as raw materials, equipment manufacturing, and consumer goods.

At the same time, Yu Xiaohui said that the current development of "5G + Industrial Internet" in my country also faces many difficulties. For example, in terms of chips and modules, the price of 5G chip modules is too high. The industry should work together to promote the realization of low-cost modules and chips to meet industrial needs.

Grasping the “bull’s nose” of technological innovation

"5G+Industrial Internet" is a historic opportunity for the leapfrog development of traditional industries.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 5G and the industrial Internet will move from the exploratory start-up stage to a new stage of deepening industrial development and empowering development," said Wang Peng.

It is understood that my country will accelerate the construction of new infrastructure and open up the information "artery". It will accelerate the construction of 5G base stations and the large-scale development of industry virtual private networks, and enhance the public service function of the industrial Internet identification resolution system. It will support enterprises to use new network technologies such as 5G and advanced applicable technologies to transform and build enterprise intranets, support enterprise equipment to the cloud, and promote the industrial Internet platform into enterprises, industrial parks, and industrial clusters.

Xiao Yaqing, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said that it is necessary to expand integrated application scenarios and promote the digital and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry. Adhere to intelligent manufacturing as the main direction and comprehensively promote the industrialization and large-scale application of digital technologies such as 5G and industrial Internet. Select a group of professional solution providers, build a group of 5G fully connected factories, optimize a group of industrial Internet platforms, and build a group of compound expert talent teams to drive the quality, efficiency and upgrade of thousands of industries.

"The popularization of 5G and industrial Internet applications must firmly grasp the 'bull's nose' of technological innovation." Xiao Yaqing said that it is necessary to strengthen key technology research, focus on the supply of common industrial technologies, promote the "unveiling the list and taking charge" mechanism, give full play to the role of enterprises as innovation subjects, and realize rapid research and development and industrialization in the fields of industrial modules, sensors, and key software. Activate the potential of data, accelerate the development of basic common standards such as industrial data interaction, explore the construction of data trading platforms, and improve the level of data management and development and utilization. In addition, it is necessary to deepen openness and sharing and build a new industrial ecology of mutual benefit and win-win.