What does an advanced mobile network deliver?

Yettel and Széchenyi István University of Győr bring their joint projects under the same roof for the first time

Autonomous vehicles combined with a smart mobility system and optimised for energy efficiency, a drone scaring off game to prevent crop damage powered by 5G and an IoT solution for the digitisation of agriculture to increase crop efficiency. These are some of the automotive and agricultural development projects implemented as part of the collaboration between Yettel and Széchenyi István University of Győr. The event presenting these innovations for the first time was opened by Károly Balázs Solymár, Deputy State Secretary for Technology at the Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM).A

Yettel organised a two-day event at Millenáris, which included a hackathon titled “Hack It Your Way” and the company’s annual business partner meeting, Connect. The exhibition of Connect featured demo equipment from the joint automotive and agricultural projects of Yettel and Széchenyi István University of Győr based on a reliable mobile connection and the 5G network.

“The benefits of using 5G networks are now crystal clear: massively increased data traffic on mobile networks and almost completely eliminated network latency. 5G has obviously become key to technology progress. It is a priority for the Hungarian government to ensure that domestic development efforts respond to real market needs. Continuous cooperation with business players is essential to this end. This is why we have launched the 5G Coalition, a broad professional platform with 90 member organisations, including Yettel and Széchenyi István University of Győr. The results of the long-term collaboration of the mobile operator and the Hungarian higher education institution prove the validity of this approach," said Károly Balázs Solymár, Deputy State Secretary for Technology.

Self-driving and scaring off game

At the university’s Faculty of Mechanical, Computer and Electrical Engineering, a team of students and researchers have connected a Nissan Leaf to the communication network while the Digital Development Centre has developed a smart mobility system. The demo vehicle can recognize the difference between 2G, 4G and 5G networks, and using the technology developed by the team, it can detect the smart signs and smart roadblocks communicating via the mobile network and safely drive through a hard-to-see pedestrian crossing. The test car can brake 36% faster using a 5G mobile network and 27% faster on a 4G network than on a 2G network, measured over the same road section and under the same road conditions. It saves more than 3 metres on the total braking distance demonstrating how a self-driving solution supported by fast and reliable network communication can improve road safety.

In Hungary, the value of crop damage caused by game amounts to several billions of HUF per year. The concept of the 5G-based game scaring drone was also conceived by the Digital Development Centre. It is based on the idea of a camera system that detects the presence of wild animals in a protected area threatening the safety of crops. Once an intruder is detected, the system activates a drone stationed at a nearby closed station, which, based on GPS coordinates, flies to the incident site and emits light and sound signals to deter the intruder until it leaves the protected area. The drone’s intervention can even be tracked using a mobile phone connected to the system, and further action can be taken if necessary.

Energy efficient autonomous vehicle and IoT monitoring system

The energy efficiency optimised self-driving vehicle using the mobile network was developed in 2019.  Since then, the multiple award-winning SZEnergy team of students from Széchenyi István University has been continuously developing the car for the energy efficiency and autonomous vehicle races of the Shell Eco-marathon. In June this year, their vehicle won Europe’s largest energy efficiency competition in the Netherlands with a world record energy mileage of 284 km/kWh, and in July it came second in a self-driving car competition in France. The internet connection for precision self-driving is provided for the team by Yettel.

Global greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food production have increased by nearly 17% over the past 30 years. Although Hungary has done much to integrate environmental considerations into agricultural production, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by intensive livestock and crop production systems and monitoring the rate of reduction at a local, micro-level remain a growing challenge. The IoT monitoring system based on the idea of the Agricultural and Food Research Centre of Széchenyi István University and later further developed by ENVI-AGRO Consulting Ltd., a company founded by the developers, provides a solution to this problem, contributing to the real-time monitoring of CO2 emissions from arable land. The system of sensors is capable of monitoring the soil’s CO2 emissions and moisture, air and soil temperature, air pressure and humidity in real time and automatically transmitting the measured data.

“We have a special relationship with Széchenyi István University of Győr, as we initiated the first Hungarian public 5G-based mobile call together in 2019. Since then, this pioneering technology has come a long way, and our 5G network is now available at more than 400 base stations across the country. A network development project worth tens of billions of HUF is currently underway to fully modernize our network, and these developments play an important role not only in our commercial activities, but also in domestic research and development," said Zoltán Dávid, Chief Strategy Officer of Yettel.

“It has always been important for us to maintain good relations with the companies active in the industry. Since our partnership agreement was signed, Yettel has supported several key projects, some of which have achieved significant results. Through these projects, our students can get a more accurate picture of the real-life applications where they can put their knowledge acquired at the university to practical use”, said István Drotár, Head of the Digital Development Centre at Széchenyi István University of Győr and Head of the Hungarian Drone Coalition.