Engineers have used converged satellite and terrestrial networks to communicate with a nimble four-legged robot designed to explore environments that are too risky for people to access.
The test was completed at ESA’s 5G/6G Hub, which is based at the agency’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in the UK.
Carried out in collaboration with the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the University of Oxford, it consisted of three different scenarios.
In the first, a direct connection was established between the robot and the operator using the ESA 5G/6G Hub’s private terrestrial 5G network. Next, the connection was rerouted via a satellite, demonstrating the integration of communications networks on the ground and in space.
In the final test – which was completed outside the ECSAT building – the operator connected to ESA’s private satellite 5G network, which was then linked to the robot via a mobile device connected over a terrestrial commercial 4G network.
The combination of the private 5G network, satellite and commercial 4G network worked seamlessly to provide continuous connectivity from the operator to the robot.