UMBRELLA is an open, large-scale IoT ecosystem deployed across South Gloucestershire, UK. It is intended to accelerate innovation across multiple technology domains. UMBRELLA is built to bridge the gap between existing specialised testbeds and address holistically real-world technological challenges in a System-of-Systems (SoS) fashion. UMBRELLA provides open access to real-world devices and infrastructure, enabling researchers and the industry to evaluate solutions for Smart Cities, Robotics, Wireless Communications, Edge Intelligence, and more. Key features include over 200 multi-sensor nodes installed on public infrastructure, a robotics arena with 20 mobile robots, a 5G network-in-a-box solution, and a unified backend platform for management, control and secure user access. The heterogeneity of hardware components, including diverse sensors, communication interfaces, and GPU-enabled edge devices, coupled with tools like digital twins, allows for comprehensive experimentation and benchmarking of innovative solutions not viable in lab environments. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of UMBRELLA's multi-domain architecture and capabilities, making it an ideal playground for Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT) innovation. It discusses the challenges in designing, developing and operating UMBRELLA as an open, sustainable testbed and shares lessons learned to guide similar future initiatives. With its unique openness, heterogeneity, realism and tools, UMBRELLA aims to continue accelerating cutting-edge technology research, development and translation into real-world progress.
翻译:UMBRELLA是一个部署在英国南格洛斯特郡的开放、大规模物联网生态系统,旨在加速多个技术领域的创新。该平台旨在弥合现有专用测试平台之间的差距,并以"系统之系统"(SoS)方式全面应对现实世界的技术挑战。UMBRELLA提供对真实设备与基础设施的开放访问,使研究人员和产业界能够评估智慧城市、机器人技术、无线通信、边缘智能等领域的解决方案。其关键特性包括:部署于公共基础设施上的200多个多传感器节点、配备20台移动机器人的机器人竞技场、5G网络箱式解决方案,以及用于管理、控制和用户安全访问的统一后端平台。硬件组件的异构性(涵盖多样传感器、通信接口及支持GPU的边缘设备)结合数字孪生等工具,使得在实验室环境中不可行的创新方案得以进行全面的实验与基准测试。本文对UMBRELLA的多领域架构与能力进行了综合概述,使其成为物联网(IoT)与工业物联网(IIoT)创新的理想试验场。文中探讨了设计、开发与运营这一开放可持续测试平台所面临的挑战,并分享了指导未来类似项目的经验教训。凭借其独特的开放性、异构性、真实性和工具集,UMBRELLA旨在持续加速前沿技术研究、开发及其向现实应用的转化进程。