The new Do IoT Fieldlab (Delft on the Internet of Things) was officially launched on Wednesday afternoon during a kick-off event on the TU Delft Campus. Do IoT focuses on developing applications of the Internet of Things, in which 5G plays an important role. “The Internet of Things brings a lot of fantastic things for the future,” said dean John Schmitz of the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS).
The ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), in which large numbers of devices exchange information via wireless connections, demands super-fast connections with high reliability and short response times. 5G, the new generation of mobile communication networks, offers this possibility. “Self-driving cars in a busy street must be able to communicate very quickly with their surroundings,” said Schmitz. “You need 5G for that.”
TU Delft
Several faculties – EEMCS, Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) and Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) – work together within TU Delft to solve not only the technical challenges, but also address issues related to governance, design and social aspects.
Remote surgery
5G is also a condition for the so-called tactile internet, meant to convey the sense of touch via the internet. With tactile internet, a surgeon can remotely perform an operation with a robotic arm, explained Fernando Kuipers – associate professor of the EEMCS faculty and one of the initiators of the Do IoT field lab – during the crowded event.
“A requirement is that the robot arm responds extremely quickly and that the surgeon must also be able to ‘feel’ that he is not cutting too deeply, for example. That is only possible with the very short response time of the 5G network. “
Comprehensive solution
The new field lab offers the possibilities to try out all these applications, so that it quickly becomes clear which innovations work and which do not. “We cannot do this alone, and that is why we have a number of partners to work together on a comprehensive solution,” says Schmitz. The Do IoT Fieldlab was founded by the province of South Holland, TNO, the municipality of Delft, Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam The Hague (MRDH), municipality of Katwijk, Holland Rijnland and TU Delft.
Source: “The digital revolution is coming: Do IoT Fieldlab officially launched”, Delft University of Technology
