The liberators of manufacturing

The EchoRing system from R3 Solutions enables wireless, highly reliable and extremely fast data transmission

The Götterflug rollercoaster at Belantis, an amusement park in Leipzig, is THE attraction. This thrill ride is controlled, monitored, and secured by R3 solutions, a company based in Berlin-Charlottenburg, and its cutting-edge EchoRing technology, which is also said to facilitate the “factory of the future” and the soon-to-be 6G communication in the industrial sector.

Several gondolas are attached to a tall tower, with a rotating arm at the top designed to seat passengers. What’s special about Götterflug is that punters can configure their ride themselves. By steering the wings, the passengers can decide whether they want to float calmly through the air or flip over. Angles, torque, and other parameters of Götterflug are permanently, separately, and wirelessly controlled for each gondola.

This wireless communication technology is also a key component of the digital manufacturing revolution, commonly known as Industry 4.0, which is also the foundation for the “factory of the future”. Mathias Bohge is a PhD electrical engineer and managing director of R3 Solutions GmbH, which is based at the CHIC start-up centre in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The company’s innovative EchoRing technology does not only control and safeguard Götterflug but also the next generation of Ariane rockets of ESA. Moreover, EchoRing is a flexible, reliable, and cost-efficient solution for tackling the challenges of modern manufacturing—especially in so-called inhomogeneous production systems.

The “factory of the future” is characterised by high flexibility, connectivity, and autonomy. Modern manufacturing environments demand solutions that facilitate dynamic adjustment to changing production requirements. EchoRing is designed to meet these requirements. “The manufacturing facilities in the factory of the future are no longer limited by physical connections like cables. Instead, they can be arranged freely and flexibly, enabling unprecedented agility in manufacturing,” says Bohge.

R3 Solutions‘ EchoRing is based on two central concepts: the Token Ring access procedure and so-called massive cooperation. The Token Ring method is an established concept in network technology, where the data flow freely between all the network nodes within a closed circle—hence the term ring. Every one of the ring’s node receives the data bundles, processes them, and passes them on. EchoRing uses this principle as a method for accessing the wireless channel to ensure highly reliable and extremely fast data transmission. Since anyone within range can listen in and disturb radio networks, it is important to define a clear sequence. “By circulating access rights within one particular ring, we make sure that no two stations ever want to transmit at the same time, which minimises latency and safeguards a high level of reliability,” explains Bohge. If one node in the ring fails, another one automatically takes over, increasing the robustness of the system.

The second key element of EchoRing is massive cooperation. In traditional communication systems, nodes are largely independent of each other. In EchoRing, they work closely together. Every node is capable of picking up the data bundles from other nodes and passing them on, even if it wasn’t originally designed for this task. “This massive cooperation allows us to achieve high reliability, even in complex, error-prone environments,” Bohge goes on to say.

The technology can be integrated hassle-free, without having to make extensive adjustments. “Our solution adapts to standard operating parameters—regardless of which protocols, interfaces, or hardware infrastructures are available,” explains Bohge.

The idea for EchoRing came from university research. “The idea was good but the journey to product maturity was still far from complete.” To embark on this journey, Bohge got together with some former colleagues and founded R3. Two more founders are now on board with him: Florian Bonanati, the co-managing director, and Christian Dombrowski, who is head of 5G/6G research.

Rico Bigelmann for POTENZIAL

 
The industrial wireless that simply works - R3 Solutions GmbH