Real-Time Innovations (RTI) recently released Connext 6.1, a software designed to address the challenges that come with remotely operating autonomous systems.
Applications that require remote operations happen in inaccessible, hazardous environments that require high reliability and real-time performance, according to a news release, though that can be challenging. Depending on the operator’s proximity, communication may also span local, wide area, public and private networks.
Connext 6.1 is designed to enable easy real-time remote operation over any network. If the network connection changes as the system moves, there’s no loss in connection or of information. Operations remain secure and reliable, allowing remote operations to continue without interruption.
The distributed software framework supports and optimizes fast communication across local (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). It doesn’t require software changes to support diverse network types. The Application Programming Interfaces (API) abstracts underlying networks.
The solution features real-time WAN Transport for reliable, low latency, secure communication over low bandwidth and public networks. It supports Network Address Translation (NAT) traversal and mobile applications with changing internet addresses.
The Cloud Discovery Service makes it easy to deploy dynamic systems when applications, assets and their network addresses aren’t known at configuration time. The applications can discover each other and directly communicate, minimizing latency and maximizing throughput.
Underwater drones, remotely accessible medical devices, space systems, and construction and mining robots are examples of systems that can benefit from this technology.
“To empower innovation and accelerate value delivery to our global customers, we are developing a mining technology ecosystem supported by a platform on RTI Connext DDS,” said Anthony Reid, director of platforms and applications at Komatsu, a company using the software, according to the release. “With RTI Connext DDS, we’re able to connect data from all different types of machines, mining processes, systems, and third-party applications while leveraging edge and cloud computing to enable interoperability, autonomy and optimization. The Real-Time WAN Transport and Cloud Discovery Service in Connext 6.1 help us to overcome technical hurdles while simplifying our software architecture.”
