5G network construction 80%: 5G robots are about to usher in a new turning point

Recently, according to CCTV News, China had completed 80% of the 5G network construction as planned by the end of February. On March 6, China Mobile officially began to purchase 5G Phase II wireless network main equipment. This year, it is expected to build 300,000 5G base stations and make all cities above the prefecture level in the country fully covered by 5G networks. By the end of February, China Mobile had built more than 80,000 5G base stations, and the number of users who purchased 5G packages had reached 10 million.

[[317968]]

In the face of China Mobile's excellent performance, China Unicom and China Telecom are not to be outdone. Both parties stated in the announcement that they will strive to build 100,000 5G base stations in the first half of this year, covering 47 prefecture-level cities, and China Unicom plans to complete the 5G coverage task for all prefecture-level cities in the country in 2020. So far, China Unicom and China Telecom have completed 5G co-construction and sharing in 31 provinces (cities, regions) across the country, and more than 50 cities have officially realized 5G commercial use. According to the plans of the three major operators in 2020, my country is expected to complete the construction and opening of at least 550,000 5G base stations this year.

5G connects everything and enables the future. Like robots, it is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics at the moment. We have seen this scene countless times in science fiction movies: robots are freed from the constraints of wired transmission and can independently make agile and correct responses like humans. Unfortunately, this goal has not been achieved yet, but with the advent of the 5G era, the field of robotics will also undergo earth-shaking changes.

Why do robots need 5G?

In the process of developing robots, network latency has always been one of the main problems that need to be solved urgently. If the system takes too long from receiving instructions to completing instruction processing, it will cause a large interval between calculating and executing an action, which will form "action jamming" in people's eyes and make it impossible to complete a set of coherent actions. So far, the appropriate way to transmit large amounts of data to robots is still through wired connections. Fortunately, with the advent of 5G technology, it has become possible to free robots from the constraints of wired transmission.

5G goes beyond the scope of traditional communication technology. Compared with 4G, it has the natural advantages of wide connection, low latency and large bandwidth. Through 5G technology, robots can be connected to the cloud for operation. Robots will no longer be restricted by transmission, but will be connected to the control center in real time as execution terminals, supporting the assignment of tasks to robots at any time. The background can track the robot throughout the process through audio and video perception terminals, control its work trajectory and status in real time, and interrupt, restore, adjust and other operations on the executed tasks at will, achieving unprecedented flexibility and flexibility. At the same time, artificial intelligence technology and cloud computing can be introduced, and machine learning technology can be used to find its excellent environment, execution of tasks and navigation. This method does not require any special programming technology in advance, which greatly saves manpower and material resources.

5G robots have a wide range of uses

In the 5G era, intelligent technologies such as robots, virtual reality, and self-driving vehicles cover multiple application scenarios from infrastructure to industrial manufacturing, from transportation to telemedicine, from education to commerce, and the fields with the greatest demand for this are undoubtedly industry, agriculture, and medicine.

5G robots can also find suitable work in factories. We are already accustomed to industrial robots (especially in car assembly welding workshops, where robots have become essential tools), but the emergence of 5G will make the concept of "conscious factory" described by Finnish telecom giant Nokia possible.

This is a new type of smart factory, where robots are equipped with sensors that provide a constant flow of information about every aspect of the manufacturing process. For current mobile networks, it is very difficult to process such a large amount of data in a timely manner. A key advantage brought by 5G networks is the ability to divide the bandwidth into many different "shards", which can be assigned to different specific tasks.

The most prominent use of 5G robots in the agricultural field is naturally drones, which can spray pesticides on fields over a large area, and can also perform tasks such as watering and sowing, greatly reducing the cost of manpower and material resources while improving work efficiency.

With the emergence of 5G, the application scope of drones will be further expanded. China Telecom once used police work as an example to describe the application of the Tianyi drone enabling platform in the field of smart policing. It is reported that through 5G and AI technology, the Tianyi drone application platform can access police cars, police robots, police drones and other terminals to implement effective integrated management and help combat crime. For example, in the field of police drones, the high bandwidth and low latency characteristics of 5G can support real-time transmission of videos in high-definition images, allowing police officers to obtain accurate on-site intelligence in real time.

In addition, medical robots have played an important role in this fight against the epidemic. In addition to carrying supplies and performing disinfection work, they can also be used in clinical operations.

Experienced surgeons can perform remote surgery by operating robotic tools. Performing surgery via remote technology is not entirely a new field, but 5G technology can allow surgery to be performed in real time and with greater precision. With specialized equipment, medical experts (such as heart surgeons or brain doctors) can perform real-time surgery on patients on the other side of the world. This can save more lives in situations where time is tight and transportation is inconvenient.