What traits does a wi-fi community want to attach transferring property? Reply: it depends upon the stakes. Occasional lapses in connectivity and a little bit latency may be okay if you happen to’re catching up on electronic mail whereas using a bus, however not if you happen to’re remotely controlling a 100,000-pound bulldozer on a steep dam slope. That’s why Aterpa, a Brazilian engineering firm employed to decommission Brazil’s tailings dams, makes use of Cisco Extremely-Dependable Wi-fi Backhaul (URWB) to remotely management heavy gear like bulldozers and excavators.
Distant management of unmanned methods can’t tolerate community latency
Following dam collapses in 2015 and 2019, giant mining firms dedicated to stopping future catastrophes by launching applications to decommission tailings dams (tailings are mud-like byproducts of ore mining) constructed utilizing the identical development strategies because the failed ones. It’s harmful work as a result of heavy equipment wants to maneuver throughout unstable floor, and missteps can result in accidents. “Dam decharacterization, or decommissioning, is a comparatively new area,” explains Rodrigo Campos, contract supervisor at Aterpa. “It’s good to take away the tailings within the dam, however you may’t permit folks to enter due to the protection points.”
To securely decommission dams within the Brazilian state of Minas Garais, Aterpa determined to make use of unmanned methods. The plan: operators working in a central command middle would view real-time digicam feeds and sensor knowledge from heavy gear like excavators to remotely management these methods over the community. The tough half was establishing a wi-fi out of doors community with the required reliability, low latency, and seamless handoffs. Current mesh options and even the newest Wi-Fi variations aren’t designed for these calls for as minimal jitter and latency can influence operations. If a video feed is delayed by even half a second, for instance, an operator won’t see an impediment in time to maneuver round it or brake, presumably sending the gear toppling down the dam slope.
Extremely-reliable wi-fi for transferring gear
Aterpa discovered its reply in Cisco URWB, which supplies the ultra-low latency (<10ms), seamless handoffs, and uninterrupted connectivity wanted to remotely management transferring property in high-stakes environments. “In our operations middle we’ve recreated the expertise of a standard automobile cab, full with a steering wheel and controls,” says Campos. Operators see what they’d see in the event that they have been sitting within the bodily cab on the slope, permitting them to soundly steer gear and take away tailings. “With Cisco URWB, when the distant operator points a command, the gear responds immediately,” Campos provides.
Between September 2022 and April 2025, Aterpa eliminated roughly 1.7 million cubic meters (2.22 million cubic toes) of waste with teleremote operations over Cisco URWB. The communities close to the dams are now not threatened. Operators are safer and the setting is cleaner. “After nearly three years of unmanned operation over Cisco URWB, we’ve seen that when the community is dependable, the operation is dependable,” says Campos. “Our working mannequin has change into a benchmark for the trade.”
3 ways Cisco URWB stands aside
What set Cisco URWB other than different wi-fi applied sciences for high-stakes operations like this one? First, URWB delivers near-zero (<10ms) latency. Second, when a related system—say, an excavator, robotic, or practice—roams between entry factors, the connection doesn’t break till the following connection is established. We name that “make-before-break” connectivity. Lastly, URWB sends duplicate copies of packets (like sensor knowledge from transferring property and instructions from operators) over as much as eight redundant paths.
Study extra
Discover us within the World of Options at Cisco Reside to see URWB in motion and register to the PSOIOT-1020 session.
Examine Cisco Extremely-Dependable Wi-fi Backhaul.
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