Wireless Mesh Network infrastructure for industrial applications — A case study of tele-operated mobile robots

The deployment of wireless communication networks in industrial facilities allows for increased flexibility and seamless integration of mobile participants. Time-critical control applications are generally realized with dedicated wireless sensor networks while common WLAN infrastructure networks allow high-throughput best-effort communication. To provide high-capacity communication as well as real-time service quality, we developed and implemented a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) infrastructure for industrial applications. An example application that requires these properties is the video-based tele-operation of a mobile robot, which we present as case study in this work. It shows the applicability of our infrastructure as well as the necessity of its comprised components.