A growing number of Taiwanese manufacturers are showing strong interest in using 5G technology to enhance their manufacturing efficiency, including implementing 5G-enabled augmented-reality (AR) devices to manage production lines, Ericsson said yesterday.
As Taiwanese manufacturers move toward “smart” factories, they are studying how to use 5G technology to accelerate the transition, Ericsson Taiwan Ltd chief technology officer Dann Yao (姚旦) said on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei.
AR and virtual-reality (VR) devices function better with 5G than 4G, as it reduces latency and improves data transmission rates, Yao said.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
One of Ericsson’s local clients in the petrochemical industry is experimenting with a training approach to help new workers effectively manage gas tanks via AR devices, he said.
He declined to give the name of the client.
“They do not need any documents for the training. All they have to do is put on a pair of goggles,” Yao said.
AR technology can easily demonstrate standard operating procedures for closing or opening gas tank valves and can show the position of all a plant’s major valves and control panels, he said.
“Such [5G] use is already ongoing, although it has not reached the final stage yet,” he said.
AR could also help auto mechanics repair vehicles more easily and more rapidly, he said.
Before the commercial launch of 5G services, Ericsson has provided so-called 5G plug-in technology to help customers upgrade software to support 5G applications on existing 4G equipment.
Aside from AR, the Swedish company last month said that it helped U-Ming Marine Transport Corp (裕民航運) manage its fleets at lower costs with the sale of its Internet of Things accelerator and vessel data management solution as well as a remote maintenance system.
In an Ericsson Mobility Report released yesterday, the company forecast that in 2022, 5G coverage would be on offer to about 15 percent of the world’s population, representing about 500 million users, driven by fast-growing video streaming demand,.
North America would achieve a 5G coverage rate of 25 percent in 2022, while the Asia-Pacific region would have a 5G coverage rate of about 10 percent, the report said.
Taiwan is expected to have 5G coverage of about 20 percent by that year, similar to the average rate in other northeastern Asian nations, Ericsson said.
Japan and South Korea are to have higher 5G coverages of about 25 percent and more than 50 percent respectively, as the two countries are to commercially launch 5G services in 2020 to broadcast the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the report said.
Japan and South Korea have already launched 5G trial services, the report said.
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