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Industry
Logistics
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How 5G enabled
Autonomous drones and robots enabled by 5G for seamless last-mile delivery.
Data Flows
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Devices
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Description
Drones suitable for:
Beyond line of sight flying
Able to carry freight
Drone (e.g., AI) capable of performing first level intervention in case of issues
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Connectivity
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Description
Images and flight information transmitted to edge and enterprise storage
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Edge Compute
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5G grants continuous feedback of delivery status and ability to make decisions to intervene real-time
Handles changes in delivery
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Cloud Compute & Storage
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All data is stored in enterprise data storage, where data ownership belongs to the company
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Applications & Services
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Non-critical MV/ML models execution
E2E automated processes by default
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Inform Decision Makers
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Operators are alerted only in cases of issues that are unable to be solved by AI
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Support Decision Making
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End of process
Application Logic
Description
Drones to operate on 5G as a first choice assuming complete network coverage, otherwise on 4G network or on satellite communication (features reduced base on network capabilities).
Where 5G is used, data can be processed and analysed real-time at the edge using AI (ML) models.
Interventions can be done in real-time and therefore have minimum impact on the drone whilst still flying.
Both images and other data (weather/flight path info/etc.) will be collected.
Description
Understand built-in features of the drone and capabilities of built-in software: AI (ML/MV); etc. Maximise what can be done here since it is most efficient.
Decide what other AI (ML/MV) models need to be added.
SME and data scientists as a team will be required to develop these models.
It is possible that 2 teams will be required to focus on ML and MV respectively.
Description
Most of the AI work will be Edge-based given the real-time nature of autonomous drones to perform delivery.
Be aware that in most countries you need a license for these drones.
Take an incremental approach with the number of routes.
Expected benefits
Delivery at last mile through drones reduces dependency on drivers and conditions of road traffic, reducing HSSE incidents
Faster deliveries especially in cases of emergencies and rural areas
Key value created
Increased delivery efficiency with reduced costs and time spent