Advancing Collaborative Research in Communication and Robotics: Insights from Experiments in a Remote Experience Center

The rapid evolution of 5G and the emergence of 6G mobile networks unlock transformative possibilities for collaborative robotics, with a particular emphasis on teleoperation systems that demand high-quality, low-latency communication. However, progress in teleoperation and communication remains fragmented, as researchers in these fields often lack interdisciplinary expertise and access to essential experimental infrastructure, including advanced robotic platforms and 5G/6G testbeds. The interdisciplinary expertise and infrastructure gap hinder the cross-disciplinary collaboration required to advance collaborative robotics using next-generation networks. In this paper, we introduce the concept of a Remote Experience Center to address this gap, demonstrating its implementation through a teleoperation framework that integrates a software-defined mobile network deployed in Prague with a robotic platform situated in Munich. We perform two classical teleoperation tasks, pick-and-place and peg-in-hole, transmitting robot control signals, as well as visual and force feedback, over the software-defined mobile network in Prague to a robotic platform and human operator located in Munich. To enhance research safety and ensure broader accessibility to our framework, we also offer a digital twin of the robotic platform. Via real-world experiments, we evaluate the impact of latency and packet loss on user satisfaction with our framework.