After kicking off a multiphase selection process in 2023, Luxembourg’s 5G Call for Projects reached its final decision. The seven winners will funding as part of the government’s commitment to evolving 5G communications in four core areas: smart environment, smart cities, industry 4.0 & technologies.

The call for projects stems from a partnership between the Ministry of State’s Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy (SMC), the Ministry of the Economy, the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) & Luxinnovation (via www.research-industry-collaboration.lu). 

This government funding initiative aims to catalyze public-private partnerships & collaborative R&D, providing sufficient funding to help organizations assess & finetune their solutions within the context of large-scale national economic benefits.

The selection process, which included opinions from an expert FNR panel & final decisions by the State Aid Advisory Commission, concluded in October 2024 with the announcement of the following winners:

5G-AGROBOT

Category: Agriculture
Public partner: Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology (LIST)
Allocated budget: €1.444 million

Initiated by two companies Fësch Haff & Frontier Connect, 5G-AGROBOT aims to design & develop an intelligent monitoring & harvesting system for small indoor farms, leveraging 5G communications. 5G will enable low-latency communication between all IoT devices installed in greenhouses (sensors, cameras) & the robot to operate harvesting activities quickly & accurately. Additionally, AI algorithms trained using the collected data and/or images will be used to drive the robot's automated operations.

5G-CriCo

Category: Critical communications
Public partner: LIST
Allocated budget: €1.279 million

Proposed by POST Luxembourg & LIST, 5G-CriCo aims to develop innovative mechanisms & algorithms to improve the reliability & resilience of “mission critical” (MCx) type communication services on 5G Standalone networks. The proposal includes a demonstration involving critical infrastructure providers like CFL, aimed at significantly changing the performance of 5G Standalone systems under critical conditions in Luxembourg.
 

5G-ARTEMIS

Category: Smart manufacturing
Public partner: SnT of the University of Luxembourg
Allocated budget: €1.848 million

The 5G-ARTEMIS project is developing a real-time control system for additive manufacturing processes by combining sensors, augmented reality, 5G connectivity & artificial intelligence. The consortium, comprised of Dropslab Technologies, the University of Luxembourg & other industry leaders, is focused on using 5G communications technologies to improve the management of manufacturing processes. This integration aims to better understand process inefficiencies & defects with a focus on quickly identifying & addressing issues in real time.

COSMIC

Category: Satellite communications
Public partner: SnT of the University of Luxembourg
Allocated budget: €1.470 million

The COSMIC project is a new joint SnT & SES research initiative that focuses on improving satellite communications & aims to explore the feasibility, implementation & demonstration of direct device-to-device communications in the C-band for non-terrestrial networks (NTN) for connected cars & handheld devices. This project is part of the development of the next generation of mobile networks, including 5G & beyond, which aim to provide faster & more reliable wireless connections.

PASTA-5G-V2X,

Category: Connected vehicles
Public partner: LIST
Allocated budget: €1.278 million

Technological advances make it possible to answer the question of dead zones in 5G networks, with the aim of 5G coverage across all inhabited areas. At the same time, technical progress at the 5G level for vehicle communications should provide benefits for road safety & traffic management. In this context, the consortium between IEE SA & LIST is focusing, through the PASTA-5G-V2X project, on the development of transparent antennas for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications using 5G technologies.

5GDrive

Category: Autonomous driving
Public partner: University of Luxembourg’s SnT
Allocated budget: €1.957 million

The 5GDrive project—led by the University of Luxembourg’s SnT in collaboration with POST Luxembourg & Ohmio—aims to develop & validate a driving system for autonomous vehicles using cutting-edge 5G technology. This unique project combines industrial & experimental research to exploit the potential of 5G in real-time, high-definition transmission of video & sensor data, as well as remote vehicle control, ensuring low latency & throughput that are essential for the operational success of autonomous vehicles.

5G-META

Category: API solutions
Public partner: LIST
Allocated budget: €1.256 million

Network exposure allows mobile networks to make their functionality accessible to external applications through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), as well as more flexible connectivity services & on-demand services. However, implementation requires significant investment & complex technical expertise from mobile network operators & application developers. This is why the 5G-META project, proposed by PROXIMUS SA & LIST, aims to create solutions that automate, test & optimize the exposure capabilities of the 5G network in real scenarios in Luxembourg, making these advanced functionalities more accessible & easier to manage.