Ericsson, Airtel, Volvo partner to research 5G digital twin tech, AI

Ericsson, Volvo Group, and Bharti Airtel on Monday announced their research partnership to explore the potential of extended reality (XR), digital twin technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) in the manufacturing sector.

 

The research engagement, to be conducted at the Volvo Group Factory and Volvo Group’s research and development centre in Bangalore, will explore industrial metaverse applications.

 

The partnership would include human and machine interaction and collaboration, use cases that will blend the physical and digital worlds. Learnings from this research partnership will enable enhanced efficiency and foster innovation in the manufacturing arena, providing a digital platform for immersive training and real-time process optimisation through introduction of cutting edge AI technologies.

 

Digital twin tech combines data from sensors, simulations, and machine learning to analyse performance, predict failures, and optimise operations by creating a virtual replica of a physical system. It is counted as a major area of monetisation for 5G services by telecom companies.

 

The initiative will see the deployment and exploration of Airtel’s 5G advanced network as the foundation for industrial XR applications. With its ultra-low latency and high-speed capabilities, 5G has the potential to enable differentiated connectivity for real-time simulations, design prototyping, and immersive training across multiple factory and industrial sites, Airtel said.

 

“Through this collaboration, our high-speed, low latency 5G network will redefine and transform the manufacturing sector by enabling real-time XR applications for enhanced productivity and efficiencies, unlocking new revenue streams and accelerating the adoption of Industry 4.0 applications,” Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO of Airtel Business said.

 

The move will allow the opportunity to experiment with new immersive concepts in the manufacturing arena, and test “what if” scenarios and optimise production workflows without any disruption to actual operations.

 

“By combining our expertise in network technology with cutting-edge XR applications, we are creating an ecosystem that will help industries to transform manufacturing. The research insights will be instrumental in shaping the future of industrial digitalization, not just in India but globally,” Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India said.