Working in a digital microbrewery as a college student optimizing the beer brewing process using 5G-enabled technology might sound like a great way to mix college credits with time at the pub. But in Sydney, Australia, the reality is researchers at the University of Technology Sydney Lab see no beer. Students are discovering how private wireless at a 5G-connected digital microbrewery can help improve beer brewing using a cloud-based digital twin of an actual brewery located on another continent at TU Dortmund University in Germany.
“Our goal is to promote Industry 4.0 principles to local industry by offering a testbed that gives partners the keys to improve their own manufacturing processes and gain business intelligence,” said Professor Jochen Deuse, Director of Center for Advanced Manufacturing at UTS. “Our international collaboration with TU Dortmund and Nokia allows us to globalize the outcomes of our testbed.”
Using Nokia’s 5G backhaul connectivity, a digital automation cloud solution, and digital twin technology, the 5G connected brewery captures and monitors production data at every step of the brewing process and uses this data, together with data from the physical twin in Dortmund and a digital twin in the cloud, to optimize the process. The UTS Industry 4.0 facility is an environment for developing and testing new 5G use cases, according to Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia.
“In the digital microbrewery, we showcase how 5G private wireless networks and cloud-based technologies help optimize the brewing process and move ever closer to achieving the perfect pint,” Uitto said.
5G connectivity is provided by Nokia’s FastMile 5G Gateways connected to a campus-wide Nokia Digital Automation Cloud 5G Standalone private wireless network. The 5G private wireless network uses multiple Nokia AirScale Indoor Radio small cells positioned throughout the UTS Tech Lab campus. The private wireless 5G network forms part of the on-site Nokia 5G Futures Lab opened in November 2021.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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