Celona launches unified wireless platform for robots and autonomous vehicles

Celona, a Campbell, California-based private wireless provider, announced Celona Orion, designed as a unified agentic converged wireless platform. The platform merges private 5G, Wi-Fi, public cellular, and satellite connectivity into a single, deterministic network fabric engineered to support the connectivity demands of physical AI, specifically autonomous vehicles, autonomous mobile robots, computer vision systems, and edge software agents.

At its core, Orion addresses a critical limitation of current robot deployments. Traditionally, autonomous vehicles and warehouse robots must "pick a side" between Wi-Fi or private 5G, often from different vendors, and cannot seamlessly move between networks. Wi-Fi may struggle with mobile robots, and private 5G can be capacity-constrained for large overnight data transfers. Orion solves this by enabling a single SIM identity on a robot to authenticate on both Celona Wi-Fi and Celona private 5G while maintaining the robot's identity when moving between networks. Celona introduced Celona AerConnect, an open-source agent for robotics OEMs, that is aware of all available wireless interfaces and handles visibility, monitoring, and traffic steering among them. The agent allows a robotic system to decide which network to use based on quality thresholds and to switch networks when performance or reliability issues arise.

The platform includes Celona Wi-Fi 7 access points at no additional cost and offers private 5G and Wi-Fi access points under a single subscription model. Factory and warehouse customers can deploy overlapping canopies of Celona private 5G and Wi-Fi access points, with the entire network managed by Orion Orchestrator as a "single pane of glass." Luca Chichiarelli, head of IT operations at tile vendor Del Conca USA, stated: "As we expand automation, we're connecting more devices, systems, workflows, and workers in more places than ever before. Bringing those networks together under a common platform can simplify operations while maintaining the security, reliability, and control our business requires."

Security is architected into the platform through SIM-based identity, micro-segmentation for operational technology, and IT/OT (information technology/operational technology) separation, all delivered through an in-house software stack and a single trusted supply chain. Orion also integrates the management of Starlink satellite connectivity, enabling enterprises to extend their wireless fabric to remote and previously unconnected locations. New sites can be brought online in hours rather than weeks or months using the same operating model everywhere. Rajeev Shah, co-founder and CEO of Celona, said: "As AI moves into physical operations, those networks must begin to operate as one system. Orion brings these technologies together into a unified fabric, elevating wireless connectivity from a supporting technology to critical infrastructure for modern enterprise operations."

Celona is moving from traditional AI-ops toward agentic network operations, where AI agents function as virtual members of the IT/OT team. Celona Brain, a model trained on the company's internal documents and code, acts as a digital twin of a Celona engineer, intended to bridge the connectivity skill gap for roboticists who are not wireless experts. Orchestrator AI exposes network capabilities through open, standards-based interfaces and an extensible library of skills built by Celona. Brandon Butler, senior research manager for network infrastructure and services at IDC, noted: "In an AI-driven era where connectivity is foundational to business innovation, platforms that converge Wi-Fi and private 5G management, coupled with AI-driven orchestration and insights, address a real operational challenge."

Celona Orion will be available beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026, with key capabilities introduced on a phased basis.