{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T16:50:47Z","timestamp":1779382247244,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763337600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Science Foundation Ireland"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JSAN"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Wireless connectivity plays a pivotal role in enabling real-time telemetry, sensor feedback, and autonomous navigation within Industry 4.0 environments. This paper presents a ROS 2-based mobile robotic platform designed to perform real-time network diagnostics across both private 5G and Wi-Fi technologies in a live smart manufacturing testbed. The system integrates high-frequency telemetry acquisition with spatial localization, multi-protocol connection analysis, and detailed performance monitoring. Metrics such as latency, packet loss, bandwidth, and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) data stream health are continuously logged and analysed. Telemetry is captured during motion and synchronously stored in an InfluxDB time-series database, enabling live visualization through Grafana dashboards. A key feature of the platform is its dual-path transmission architecture, which provides communication redundancy and allows side-by-side evaluation of network behaviour under identical physical conditions. Experimental trials demonstrate the platform\u2019s ability to detect roaming events, characterize packet loss, and reveal latency differences between Wi-Fi and 5G networks. Results show that Wi-Fi suffered from roaming-induced instability and packet loss, whereas 5G maintained stable and uninterrupted connectivity throughout the test area. This work introduces a modular, extensible framework for mobile network evaluation in industrial settings and provides practical insights for infrastructure tuning, protocol selection, and wireless fault detection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jsan14060110","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T14:04:07Z","timestamp":1763388247000},"page":"110","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Data-Driven, Real-Time Diagnostics of 5G and Wi-Fi Networks Using Mobile Robotics"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7517-8530","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William","family":"O\u2019Brien","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Dooley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1050-7617","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihai","family":"Penica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sean","family":"McGrath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3173-140X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eoin","family":"O\u2019Connell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1109\/MIE.2020.3004975","article-title":"Private 5G: The future of industrial wireless","volume":"14","author":"Aijaz","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Ind. Electron. Mag."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1265","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dcan.2023.05.006","article-title":"Internet of robotic things for mobile robots: Concepts, technologies, challenges, applications, and future directions","volume":"9","author":"Kabir","year":"2023","journal-title":"Digit. Commun. Netw."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121786","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3108423","article-title":"5G campus networks: A first measurement study","volume":"9","author":"Rischke","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"O\u2019Brien, W., Penica, M., Hayes, M., and O\u2019Connell, E. (2023, January 13\u201314). Capacity Analysis: The potential of the wireless factory of the future. Proceedings of the 2023 34th Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC), Dublin, Ireland.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISSC59246.2023.10162059"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2237","DOI":"10.1109\/COMST.2018.2828880","article-title":"End-to-end simulation of 5G mmWave networks","volume":"20","author":"Mezzavilla","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arendt, C., B\u00f6cker, S., Schippers, H., Ploch, T., Kuhn, M., Venjakob, V., Hunger, S., and Wietfeld, C. (2025, January 10\u201313). Towards Future Industrial Connectivity: Evaluation of Private 5G and Wi-Fi Networks in Professional Industrial Environments. Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS), Rostock, Germany.","DOI":"10.1109\/WFCS63373.2025.11077629"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kehl, P., Ansari, J., Jafari, M.H., Becker, P., Sachs, J., K\u00f6nig, N., G\u00f6ppert, A., and Schmitt, R.H. (2022). Prototype of 5G integrated with TSN for edge-controlled mobile robotics. Electronics, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/electronics11111666"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Paasch, C., Detal, G., Duchene, F., Raiciu, C., and Bonaventure, O. (2012, January 13). Exploring mobile\/WiFi handover with multipath TCP. Proceedings of the 2012 ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Cellular Networks: Operations, Challenges, and Future Design, Helsinki, Finland.","DOI":"10.1145\/2342468.2342476"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153893","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3127482","article-title":"5G non-public networks: Standardization, architectures and challenges","volume":"9","author":"Ameigeiras","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104123","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2022.3210340","article-title":"A novel QoS-aware multi-connectivity scheme for wireless IIoT","volume":"10","author":"Mogensen","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"(2008). IEEE Standard for Information Technology\u2014Local and Metropolitan Area Networks\u2013Specific Requirements\u2014Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications Amendment 2: Fast Basic Service Set (BSS) Transition (Standard No. 802.11r-2008). (Amendment to IEEE Std 802.11-2007 as amended by IEEE Std 802.11k-2008)."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74406","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2024.3404870","article-title":"An empirical study of 5G, wi-Fi 6 and multi-connectivity scalability in an indoor industrial scenario","volume":"12","author":"Segura","year":"2024","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111693","DOI":"10.1016\/j.comnet.2025.111693","article-title":"Performance Benchmarking of Private 5G Networks","volume":"272","author":"Dooley","year":"2025","journal-title":"Comput. Netw."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Open Robotics (2025, May 23). ROS\u2014Robot Operating System. Available online: https:\/\/www.ros.org\/."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"NVIDIA Corporation (2025, May 23). Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit. Available online: https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/en-us\/autonomous-machines\/embedded-systems\/jetson-orin\/nano-super-developer-kit\/."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Raspberry Pi (2025, May 23). Raspberry Pi 5. Available online: https:\/\/www.raspberrypi.com\/products\/raspberry-pi-5\/."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"InfluxData Inc. (2025, May 23). InfluxDB Time Series Data Platform. Available online: https:\/\/www.influxdata.com\/."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Grafana Labs (2025, May 23). Grafana. Available online: https:\/\/grafana.com\/."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Lepp\u00e4nen, T. (2021). Data Visualization and Monitoring with Grafana and Prometheus. [Bachelor\u2019s Thesis, Turku University of Applied Sciences]."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"O\u2019Brien, W., Dooley, A., Penica, M., Moore, D., and O\u2019Connell, E. (2025, January 9\u201310). Evaluating Communication Performance in Private 5G Smart Factory Deployments. Proceedings of the 2025 36th Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC), County Donegal, Ireland."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arendt, C., Fricke, S., B\u00f6cker, S., and Wietfeld, C. (2024, January 2\u20135). Distributed performance evaluation of 5G and Wi-Fi for private industrial networks. Proceedings of the 2024 IEEE 35th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), Valencia, Spain.","DOI":"10.1109\/PIMRC59610.2024.10817427"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"O\u2019Brien, W., Hayes, M., Penica, M., McCann, J., Moore, D., and O\u2019Connell, E. (November, January 26). Evaluation of private 5G in smart automation applications. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE 8th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT), Yokohama, Japan.","DOI":"10.1109\/WF-IoT54382.2022.10152130"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75269","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2023.3296089","article-title":"Feasibility study of V2X communications in initial 5G NR deployments","volume":"11","author":"Clancy","year":"2023","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zulkifley, M.A., Behjati, M., Nordin, R., and Zakaria, M.S. (2021). Mobile network performance and technical feasibility of LTE-powered unmanned aerial vehicle. Sensors, 21.","DOI":"10.3390\/s21082848"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sossalla, P., Rischke, J., Baier, F., Itting, S., Nguyen, G.T., and Fitzek, F.H. (July, January 30). Private 5G solutions for mobile industrial robots: A feasibility study. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC), Rhodes Island, Greece.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCC55528.2022.9912791"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"86928","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3085896","article-title":"Comparing Wi-Fi 6 and 5G downlink performance for industrial IoT","volume":"9","author":"Maldonado","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"(2024). Service Requirements for Cyber-Physical Control Applications in Vertical Domains (Standard No. ETSI TS 22 104)."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wei, Y.R., Sathiyamoorthi, J., Rahman, M., and Janik, P. (2023, January 19\u201321). Mobile robots design for industrial applications in private 5g networks: Essential factors to consider. Proceedings of the 2023 53rd European Microwave Conference (EuMC), Berlin, Germany.","DOI":"10.23919\/EuMC58039.2023.10290263"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Roda-Sanchez, L., Zanzi, L., Li, X., Gar\u00ed, G., and Costa-P\u00e9rez, X. (2025, January 24\u201327). Network Digital Twin for 5G-Enabled Mobile Robots. Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC), Milan, Italy.","DOI":"10.1109\/WCNC61545.2025.10978546"},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"de Oliveira Pereira, J.M. (2024). A Framework for 5G Network Data Analytics Function with Emphasis on Anomaly Detection. [Master\u2019s Thesis, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais]."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pandey, P., and Parasuraman, R. (2022, January 19\u201322). Empirical analysis of bi-directional wi-fi network performance on mobile robots in indoor environments. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE 95th Vehicular Technology Conference: (VTC2022-Spring), Helsinki, Finland.","DOI":"10.1109\/VTC2022-Spring54318.2022.9860438"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bekele, B.E., Tokarz, K., Gebeyehu, N.Y., Pochopie\u0144, B., and Mrozek, D. (2024). Performance Evaluation of UDP-Based Data Transmission with Acknowledgment for Various Network Topologies in IoT Environments. Electronics, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/electronics13183697"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Meira, J., Matos, G., Perdig\u00e3o, A., Ca\u00e7\u00e3o, J., Resende, C., Moreira, W., Antunes, M., Quevedo, J., Moutinho, R., and Oliveira, J. (2023). Industrial Internet of things over 5G: A practical implementation. Sensors, 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/s23115199"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fr\u00e9, G., Erman, B., and Di Martino, C. (2023, January 27\u201330). Data shower in electronics manufacturing: Measuring Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 6, and 5G SA behavior in production assembly lines. Proceedings of the 2023 53rd Annual IEEE\/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks-Supplemental Volume (DSN-S), Porto, Portugal.","DOI":"10.1109\/DSN-S58398.2023.00019"},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Roboworks (2025, May 23). Mecabot Pro. Available online: https:\/\/www.roboworks.net\/store\/p\/mecabotpro."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"Quectel (2022, June 03). 5G RM50xQ Series. Available online: https:\/\/www.quectel.com\/product\/5g-rm50xq-series."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"Pololu Corporation (2025, September 08). 5V, 5.5A Step-Down Voltage Regulator D36V50F5. Available online: https:\/\/www.pololu.com\/product\/4091."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. (2025, May 23). RG50xQ&RM5xxQ Series AT Commands Manual. Available online: https:\/\/forums.quectel.com\/uploads\/short-url\/avUSxfJeKqWJzAie8wEZCshlXjm.pdf."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Ookla LLC (2025, May 23). Speedtest CLI: Internet Speed Test for the Command Line. Available online: https:\/\/www.speedtest.net\/apps\/cli."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aziz, T., Abd Razak, M.R., and Ghani, N.E.A. (2017, January 18\u201320). The performance of different IEEE802. 11 security protocol standard on 2.4 GHz and 5GHz WLAN networks. Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Engineering Technology and Technopreneurship (ICE2T), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICE2T.2017.8215954"}],"container-title":["Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2224-2708\/14\/6\/110\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T05:29:12Z","timestamp":1763530152000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2224-2708\/14\/6\/110"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]},"references-count":40,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12]]}},"alternative-id":["jsan14060110"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jsan14060110","relation":{},"ISSN":["2224-2708"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2224-2708","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]]}}}