Project TICTIC

Abstract

Manufacturing environments are often safety-critical, demanding deterministic and ultra-reliable communication systems to support real-time control and coordination. While 5G has emerged as a promising enabler for industrial digitalisation, most commercially available 5G components were originally designed for consumer applications, lacking the specific capabilities needed for mission-critical industrial use cases.

This project addresses the gap by developing advanced 5G infrastructure and user equipment tailored to the stringent requirements of the manufacturing sector. Key industrial needs include deterministic ultra-low latency, flexible network customisation, and seamless integration with existing factory data infrastructures. However, several technical and security barriers continue to hinder full-scale adoption, including incomplete support for industrial time synchronisation, increased cyber-attack surfaces due to virtualisation, limited network transparency, constraints in protocols, jitter and packet loss under load, and a general lack of network flexibility and customisation options.

A multidisciplinary consortium has been formed, combining expertise in manufacturing integration, 5G network core, RAN, and UE hardware, and cybersecurity. The project will deliver a robust, secure, modular and customisable end-to-end 5G system, validated through a series of safety-critical use cases. These include mobile robots synchronised with real-time digital twins, zonal safety enforcement, and high-speed pick-and-place operations.

A unique combination of technologies and products—including factory automation tools, real-time control loops enhanced by AI, RF and UWB-based tracking, LiDAR and computer vision for scanning and localisation, and RF-based posture recognition—will be integrated into a cohesive testbed environment. These components will undergo rigorous validation in real-world scenarios to assess their performance limits, determine failure thresholds, and confirm their readiness for commercial deployment in safety-critical settings.

A cybersecurity assessment will be conducted to evaluate the risks introduced by increased network complexity and assess their implications for reliability in safety-critical manufacturing environments.

The project addresses a critical gap in industrial digitalisation by developing advanced 5G infrastructure and user equipment tailored to manufacturing needs, including ultra-low latency, network customisation, and secure integration. The solution will be validated through use cases involving real-time control, robotics, digital twins, and AI-enhanced automation in safety-critical environments.