End-to-End O-RAN Testbed for Edge-AI-Enabled 5G/6G Connected Industrial Robotics

The evolution from 5G towards 6G reinforces interest in connected robotics, where mobile robots offload compute-intensive tasks to edge servers over ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) links. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), a fundamental yet demanding robotics function, is increasingly considered for edge deployment within mobile edge computing (MEC) frameworks. In parallel, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) enables the use of radio channel information, such as channel state information (CSI), as an additional sensing modality in radio-based SLAM. In this paper, we design and implement a CSI-assisted Edge SLAM testbed integrating a custom unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), a ROS2-based SLAM framework, and a 5G Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) system. The proposed architecture provides an end-to-end, cross-layer view of ROS2 sensor data streaming over 5G, explicitly enabling CSI exposure and integration into the SLAM pipeline. We analyze ROS2 DDS communication, RTPS packetization, and 5G user-plane transport, and discuss mechanisms for CSI extraction and delivery via O-RAN components. The platform enables realistic experimentation with communication-aware SLAM and reveals key challenges related to latency, data streaming, synchronization, and cross-system integration, providing insights for future 6G-enabled robotic platforms.

This article presents the first real-world autonomous flight of a 5G-connected aerial robot controlled by an edge-offloaded controller, and aims to bridge the gap between controlled and factual setups. The robot operates within an active industrial subterranean mine, while the high-level controller is deployed in a nearby Kubernetes-based edge cluster. Communication between the robot and the edge is enabled via a 5G New Radio (NR) Standalone (SA) network. The chosen controller is a Model Predictive Controller (MPC), which generates control actions to allow the robot to navigate seamlessly through the mining environment. A human operator selects waypoints for the aerial robot, and the MPC generates smooth, collision-free paths for autonomous executions. The proposed 5G edge-based closed-loop system is evaluated in a real industrial setting and demonstrates the potential of edge-controlled robotic systems toward time-critical, safe and efficient future deployments.

This paper presents Plaza6G, the first operational Experiment-as-a-Service (ExaS) platform unifying cloud resources with next-generation wireless infrastructure. Developed at CTTC in Barcelona, Plaza6G integrates GPU-accelerated compute clusters, multiple 5G cores, both open-source (e.g., Free5GC) and commercial (e.g., Cumucore), programmable RANs, and physical or emulated user equipment under unified orchestration. In Plaza6G, the experiment design requires minimal expertise as it is expressed in natural language via a web portal or a REST API. The web portal and REST API are enhanced with a Large Language Model (LLM)-based assistant, which employs retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for up-to-date experiment knowledge and Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) for continuous domain fine-tuning. Over-the-air (OTA) trials leverage a four-chamber anechoic facility and a dual-site outdoor 5G network operating in sub-6~GHz and mmWave bands. Demonstrations include automated CI/CD integration with sub-ten-minute setup and interactive OTA testing under programmable propagation conditions. Machine-readable experiment descriptors ensure reproducibility, while future work targets policy-aware orchestration, safety validation, and federated testbed integration toward open, reproducible wireless experimentation.