"In addition to real-time and high availability, 5G also achieves sufficient bandwidth to enable new services such as remote maintenance and working with augmented reality glasses," explains Ewald Kuk, Vice President Product Management Industrial Communication and Identification at Siemens. "Another obvious application for 5G is driverless transport vehicles. They need to be able to switch off if someone or something gets in their way, which works well via a 5G user end device."

To get started with 5G, Siemens is presenting what it claims is the first industrial 5G router for connecting local industrial applications to a public 5G network. The device, called 'Scalance MUM856-1', is expected to be available in spring 2021. The newly developed 5G router will make industrial applications such as machines, control elements and other devices remotely accessible via a public 5G network, enabling remote maintenance of these applications at the high data rates offered by 5G. The 'Sinema Remote Connect' management platform for VPN connections allows convenient and secure access to remote systems or machines - even if they are integrated into other networks.

The 'Scalance MUM856-1' 5G router can be used to connect local industrial applications to a public 5G network.

© Siemens

There is also a lot of news from Siemens when it comes to edge computing: 'Siemens Industrial Edge' as an open software platform for implementing IIoT solutions close to the machine is now being supplemented by the 'Industrial Edge Management System', a central and company-wide scalable infrastructure for managing connected edge devices and apps.
connected edge devices and apps. In combination with the hardware and software offerings already available, users now have the open 'Industrial Edge V1.0' platform as a ready-to-use, end-to-end solution. The Industrial Edge portfolio is also growing on the hardware side. The 'Simatic IPC227G' industrial PC is available as a Nanobox and Panel PC. It is suitable as a platform for industrial edge and AI applications.

In drive technology, Siemens is adding a corresponding edge version to its MindSphere application 'Analyze MyDrives'. This is the first time the company has launched an edge application for drive technology on the market. In the area of Predictive Services for Drive Systems, the MindSphere-based service application is getting an intelligent update. The 'Predictive Service Assistance' application is now based on an AI algorithm. Among other things, it supports customers in increasing the availability of monitored assets and boosting efficiency in maintenance.

Siemens is also presenting a universal robot library for the TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation): the 'Simatic Robot Library' for the 'Simatic Robot Integrator'. With the help of the Simatic Robot Library, users will be able to program the majority of robots on the market in the TIA Portal, regardless of manufacturer, and use standardized operating concepts based on the Simatic Robot Integrator and Simatic HMI.