Com Italtel e Cisco, o E80 Group garante a segurança dos testes de seus AGVs

Desafio

Os veículos guiados automaticamente (Automated Guided Vehicles, AGVs) desempenham um papel fundamental na consecução desses objetivos, simplificando os processos de manuseio de materiais e aumentando a produtividade geral em fábricas, armazéns e centros de distribuição.

Muito importante nesse ambiente impulsionado pela tecnologia é a segurança cibernética robusta, que garante a proteção de dados confidenciais e evita interrupções causadas por ameaças cibernéticas, salvaguardando, assim, a operação contínua de sistemas logísticos avançados.

O E80 Group, uma multinacional italiana, com sede em Viano, Itália, constrói seus veículos autônomos e guiados a laser (AGVs e LGVs) que podem se movimentar em uma instalação, transportar materiais e interagir com outras máquinas e sistemas em armazéns, centros de distribuição e fábricas. O Grupo E80 já equipou mais de 450 fábricas integradas em várias partes do mundo, instalando mais de 2.800 sistemas robóticos, mais de 9.000 AGVs e LGVs e vários armazéns automáticos de alta densidade. Todos os dias, as soluções da E80 lidam com mais de 1 bilhão de euros de produtos em todo o mundo.

Modern AGVs utilize sophisticated technologies like laser scanners, vision cameras, and LiDAR that allows for dynamic path planning, obstacle detection, and safe operation in complex environments. Modern AGVs are also networked – communicating with other AGVs, robots, and central control systems, which enables better coordination and fleet management. They are a key enabler of smart manufacturing, and a component of Industry 4.0, making possible more automated, data-driven, and optimized manufacturing processes, by delivering the right thing to the right place at the right time.

But extensive connectivity can also increase the threat of cyberattacks. “The increased reliance on technology and connectivity in modern AGVs introduces new cybersecurity challenges that manufacturers and distributors need to address” says Fabio Oleari, Manager of OT cybersecurity at E80 Group, “In addition to data theft, malware attacks, etc., malicious actors could potentially hack into the AGV’s control system, hijack its movement, or disrupt its operations.”

Solução

O E80 Group tem o compromisso de tornar seus AGVs tão seguros quanto possível. Para isso, eles contam com a arquitetura de rede e segurança industrial unificada da Cisco. Essa arquitetura incorpora a segurança em equipamentos de rede industrial, como os Catalyst Industrial Ethernet Switches e os Catalyst Industrial Routers, e serve para eliminar produtos de segurança pontuais, simplificar a arquitetura e facilitar o dimensionamento das implementações. Graças à integração do sistema da Italtel e à arquitetura de rede e segurança cibernética de OT convergente da Cisco, o Grupo E80 pode realizar uma integração perfeita e segura de suas soluções industriais.

Thanks to Italtel’s system integration and Cisco’s converged OT cybersecurity and networking architecture, E80 Group can accomplish seamless and secure integration of their industrial solutions.

E80 Group delivers hundreds of AGVs to a customer. Configuring and monitoring switches and Cyber Vision on these many vehicles manually is not only time consuming but can also lead to inaccuracies. To automate such tasks and reduce time to deploy, E80 Group teamed up with Italtel, that has a storied past and has long been a pioneer in telecommunications, software defined networking, 5G, and industrial IoT, with specialization in areas of smart manufacturing and OT cybersecurity.

“We designed a system for E80 Group that allows them to provision and configure Catalyst IE3400 switches and Cyber Vision in hundreds of AGVs at their customer locations”, said Simone Ogadri, Cyber Security Engineering Manager at Italtel. This system allows E80 Group to provide managed services to ensure security of their AGVs deployed in customer sites.
“We used the APIs available in Catalyst IE3400’s IOS XE operating system, Cyber Vision, and ISE to build this dashboard,” explained Ogadri, “By using open-source tools for IT automation such as Ansible, we are able to provision switches, configure Cyber Vision, and update software automatically.”

Using these tools, E80 Group can remotely activate their AGVs at customer sites. “Once provisioned, we use Cyber Vision and ISE to group connected assets in each AGV, create segmentation policies, and instruct the Catalyst IE3400 to enforce these policies, with point-and- click simplicity”, explained Oleari. Using Cyber Vision, they can now continuously monitor each AGV.

Results

Results As the momentum towards the evolution to Industry 4.0 accelerates, analyst data shows a steady growth in adoption of AGVs, AMRs, mobile handheld tooling, etc. Left unaddressed, the resulting increase in the threat surface can have several negative consequences that could impact productivity, lead to financial losses, and even threaten worker safety. By taking proactive measures to secure mobile devices, organizations can mitigate these risks and ensure safe, efficient, and reliable operations.
With its extensive experience in system integration, Italtel selects the best-of-breed technologies to deliver optimal solutions for its customers. For E80 Group, Italtel has chosen Cisco, whose comprehensive security embedded in networking equipment simplifies the process for machine builders to connect, protect, and deploy their industrial solutions, while also offering managed services to their clients.