Hyundai Motor and Kia unveiled cutting-edge wireless communication technology used in smart factories where hundreds of robots are deployed. The importance of wireless communication technology to keep various robots inside factories moving smoothly is growing.
Hyundai Motor and Kia said on the 17th that they recently developed, for the first time in the world, a wireless consolidation terminal that can handle both "Wi-Fi 6" and "P-5G (Private-5G)" simultaneously and filed patents in Korea and the United States. This technology has been applied since late last year at Hyundai Motor's Ulsan plant and Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in the United States.
At Hyundai Motor and Kia plants, not only production robots but also various advanced robots are in operation, including logistics robots such as AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicle) and AMRs (Automated Mobile Robot) that transport parts, and Spot, the robot dog from Boston Dynamics that detects hazards.
Robots do not simply move as preprogrammed; they must respond in real time to changing situations. Above all, to ensure robots operate along the precise path at the precise moment, wireless communication stabilization technology is essential.
Previously, because separate terminals existed to handle Wi-Fi and mobile networks individually, one had to be selected and mounted on a robot, and in such cases, if a communication failure occurred, the robot would stop.
By developing and applying an "all-in-one Wi-Fi 6 and P-5G terminal," Hyundai Motor and Kia not only reduced the number, size, weight, and cost of terminals, but also addressed potential communication outages by immediately switching to the Wi-Fi 6 method to maintain communications if a failure occurs on P-5G.
A Hyundai Motor and Kia official said, "As production plants rapidly automate, the volume of robot communications has increased exponentially, and it has become important to diversify and stabilize channels so that the concentrated traffic does not cause failures in the communication network."
Hyundai Motor and Kia are also developing an integrated terminal technology that can use Wi-Fi 7, which is superior to Wi-Fi 6 in terms of speed and stability. They plan to complete development early next year and install it at domestic and overseas plants to maximize production efficiency.