LG Uplus Demonstrates 5G-powered Outdoor Self-Driving Robot

A 5G-based self-driving robot patrols at Hyundai Oilbank’s Seosan plant in South Chungcheong Province.

LG Uplus announced on Sept. 18 that it has demonstrated an 5G-based outdoor self-driving robot at Hyundai Oilbank’s Seosan plant in South Chungcheong Province in cooperation with Unmanned Solution, a company specializing in autonomous robots.

LG Uplus demonstrated the robot’s auto-drive to the destination without remote control, lane recognition, detection of obstacles, thermal imaging camera-based temperature monitoring and real-time remote control of facilities.

LG Uplus applied its 5G communication and real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning to Unmanned Solution’s self-driving robots. The robots succeeded in self-driving within an error of less than 10 cm.

RTK locates a target place more accurately than Global Positioning System (GPS) by correcting errors of GPS satellites, which can be up to 30 meters, based on a reference station. The reference station, which knows the absolute position value of a target place such as the latitude, longitude and altitude, generates calibration information by comparing it with the observed value and send it to the robot. The robot can thoroughly patrol a target area by receiving correction information without a delay through 5G communications.

In particular, LG Uplus also installed an artificial intelligence-based eye (camera) in the robot to enable it to move precisely during this demonstration.

LG Uplus also introduced a specialized patrol function for oil refineries. When the 5G self-driving robot with a thermal imaging camera arrived at a designated location of high-temperature facilities, it stopped running and detected the temperature of the facilities. Personnel in a remote control room could check high-definition images transmitted by the self-driving robot in real time through 5G communications.