ANYbotics begins delivering ANYmal X legged robot for explosive atmospheres

ANYmal X is certified to operate in hazardous atmospheres. ANYbotics AG today launched ANYmal X, which it claimed is “the world’s first legged inspection robot for explosive atmospheres.” The new quadruped is designed to meet strict safety standards in oil, gas, and chemicals, said the company.

ANYmal X uses an advanced industrial AI stack to conduct routine autonomous inspections in environments that are dangerous to people, it said. “Four years of pioneering engineering with more than 10 patents went into ANYmal X,” stated Péter Fankhauser, co-founder and CEO of ANYbotics. “Many experts thought a legged robot could never be made safe for explosive atmospheres. “Oil, gas and chemical plants are among the most hazardous and most costly places to operate,” he added. “That makes them the prime case for physical and industrial AI, yet until now, the areas that matter most were off-limits to robots like ours. That changes today.” Spun out of ETH Zurich in 2016, ANYbotics said its ANYmal robots and the Shift operations platform automate routine inspections in multiple industries, keeping people out of harm’s way and turning inspection data into maintenance action. Backed by more than $150 million from leading European and Silicon Valley investors, ANYbotics has about 200 employees in Zurich, San Francisco, and Barcelona. Equipment failures in hazardous spaces are costly, says ANYbotics “Valued at $102 billion, the global oil, gas, and chemical sector is the largest market for autonomous inspection,” noted ANYbotics. “Two major operational costs drive this market value: the expensive skilled labor required for manual inspection, and the downtime caused by preventable equipment failures.” “Because critical components, like pumps, compressors, valves, and piping, are located in hazardous zones, where standard robots are banned, human operators still need personal protective equipment, handheld gas detectors, and entry permits to inspect these areas on foot,” it said. Undetected equipment failures cost the world’s 500 largest companies roughly $1.4 trillion each year in preventable downtime, ANYbotics said. In the oil and gas sector alone, a single hour of unplanned downtime can cost up to $500,000 according to Siemens, while U.S. extraction workers face a fatality rate seven times the national average, found NIOSH. In addition to keeping workers out of harm’s way and minimizing downtime, ANYmal X can provide continuous, repeatable, structured observational data that enhances digital facility planning models, such as digital twins. ANYbotics said this gives them greater contextual detail to be more useful across an entire organization. Submit your innovation now!