{"ID":3050056,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-04T02:13:16.786527022Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-06T11:59:53.540122282Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.04818","arxiv_id":"2606.04818","title":"Real-World Deployment of a 5G-Connected Edge-Controlled Aerial Robot in Industrial Subterranean Mines","abstract":"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.","short_abstract":"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 nea...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.04818","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.04818v1","authors":"[\"Achilleas Santi Seisa\",\"Emanuele Pagliari\",\"Gerasimos Damigos\",\"Elias Small\",\"George Nikolakopoulos\"]","published":"2026-06-03T12:40:56Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}