ANYbotics begins delivering ANYmal X legged robot for explosive atmospheres

ANYbotics AG launched ANYmal X, which the Zurich-based company claims is the world's first legged inspection robot for explosive atmospheres, and has begun delivering the quadruped to oil, gas and chemical customers. ANYmal X complies with the European ATEX standard for explosion-protected equipment and uses an industrial AI stack to run autonomous inspections in hazardous zones where standard robots are banned; CEO Péter Fankhauser said "four years of pioneering engineering with more than 10 patents went into ANYmal X." ANYbotics, spun out of ETH Zurich in 2016 and backed by more than $150 million, cites a $102 billion global oil, gas and chemical inspection market and up to $500,000 per hour in unplanned oil and gas downtime, according to Siemens.

ANYbotics begins delivering ANYmal X legged robot for explosive atmospheres The Robot Report https://www.therobotreport.com ANYbotics has designed the ANYmal X inspection robot to comply with the strictest safety standards of the oil, gas, and chemical industries. The post ANYbotics begins delivering ANYmal X legged robot for explosive atmospheres appeared first on The Robot Report. Hazardous environments are good use cases for robots, which are expanding into new use cases. 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 https://www.therobotreport.com/category/markets-industries/oil-gas , and chemicals, said the company https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/anybotics . 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 https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/inspection/ 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 https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/TCOD-2024 original.pdf , while U.S. extraction workers face a fatality rate seven times the national average, found NIOSH https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/148641/cdc 148641 DS1.pdf . 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. Certifying a robot for hazardous zones is one of the hardest parts of the design process Every device used in hazardous areas, from radios to flashlights, must be explosion-protected, or “ex-proof,” said ANYbotics. Each unit requires independent certification proving it cannot ignite a flammable atmosphere, even when something fails. ANYbotics built ANYmal X to comply with the ATEX https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/mechanical-engineering/equipment-potentially-explosive-atmospheres-atex en standard in Europe and IECEx https://www.iecex.com/resources-and-news/standards/ globally. Fixed equipment typically achieves compliance using heavy, explosion-proof enclosures or limiting electrical energy to prevent ignition, the company explained. A legged robot https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/legged-robots/ cannot use either approach. It requires high-power motors and a large battery https://www.therobotreport.com/category/technologies/batteries-power-supplies/ in a frame light enough to climb stairs, exposed cameras https://www.therobotreport.com/category/technologies/cameras-imaging-vision/ and sensors https://www.therobotreport.com/category/technologies/sensors-sensing/ for navigation https://www.therobotreport.com/category/design-development/mobility-navigation/ , and autonomous docking capabilities. Every one of these components had to be certified ex-proof without sacrificing the autonomous mobile robot’s AMR https://www.therobotreport.com/category/robots-platforms/amrs/ payload capacity, agility, or operating speed, said ANYbotics. “We asked one question over and over: Which credible event in the life of a walking robot could create an ignition source, and how do we make sure it never does?” said Andrea Corda, chief technology officer of ANYbotics. “Working closely with the certification bodies, we answered that question component by component. The result is a new explosion-protection approach for an entire class of autonomous mobile robots.” ANYbotics performed a comprehensive ignition-risk assessment for ANYmal X’s service life and implemented safeguards for each potential ignition source. Each of its components has been designed to minimize ignition risk. The company said the new robot https://www.anybotics.com/robotics/anymal-x/ ’s AI https://www.therobotreport.com/category/design-development/ai-cognition/ computer and inspection equipment are enclosed in nitrogen-filled, sealed chambers. Non-metallic shells insulate metallic components, conductive feet provide grounding https://www.machinebrief.com/glossary/grounding , and automatic cutoffs monitor temperature https://www.machinebrief.com/glossary/temperature . All 12 leg actuators https://www.therobotreport.com/category/technologies/actuators-motors-servos/ and its battery are protected by flameproof casings. Charging and data transmission use energy barriers, so no connection is exposed to hazardous areas. ANYmal X’s onboard software monitors the robot’s condition before, during, and after each mission. It also tests durability against shock, vibration, corrosion, solar radiation, and salt mist to ensure that all protective measures function properly in normal use. ANYmal X ships as a ‘complete system’ proven at industrial scale “A certified robot is only the entry ticket for inspecting oil, gas, and chemicals facilities,” said Thierry Obédé, chief revenue officer at ANYbotics. “ANYmal X is a complete end-to-end inspection solution built for performance, safety, and security. It combines autonomous navigation, industrial AI for data interpretation, and integrations that convert findings directly into maintenance work orders.” “Today, more than 50 power, metals, and materials customers use this system to run over 120,000 autonomous inspections every month,” he added. ANYmal X runs on Shift https://www.anybotics.com/solutions/shift/ , which schedules robot missions, organizes findings by asset, and helps maintenance teams track changes over time. It connects inspection findings with existing plant maintenance software, including SAP, Yokogawa, and SLB. To ensure top-tier data protection, the whole system is developed and operated under ISO 27001 https://www.iso.org/standard/27001 information security standards. “Plants run on process data from their control systems and business data from their ERP,” said Obédé. “The third source, what operators see, hear and measure on their rounds, has always been manual. ANYmal X now captures it autonomously, even inside hazardous areas, and we stand behind the whole chain, from the robot on site to the work order in the maintenance system.” Industry leaders tested ANYmal X Since 2023, energy and chemical leaders including BP, Equinor, Shell, PETRONAS, Petrobras, BASF, and SLB have tested ANYmal X across hundreds of onshore and offshore missions through ANYbotics’ Early Access Program https://www.anybotics.com/news/robotic-progress-eap-anymal-x-zurich/ . Their feedback helped to refine the field-tested, industrial-grade robot now being delivered to customers. ANYmal X does not require any facility modifications, navigating complex industrial environments such as steep stairs and narrow walkways, said ANYbotics. The robot’s integrated thermal, visual, acoustic, and gas sensors detect overheating, leaks, abnormal noise, and equipment wear, logging every reading directly to its corresponding asset, the company https://www.anybotics.com/ said. This gives reliability engineers a standardized baseline to track asset health over time, enabling teams to spot early signs of wear and intervene before minor issues escalate into costly plant shutdowns. ANYmal X and its full industrial AI stack will be shown publicly for the first time at ADIPEC 2026 https://www.adipec.com/ by ANYbotics, SLB, and Kuwait Oil Co. The post ANYbotics begins delivering ANYmal X legged robot for explosive atmospheres https://www.therobotreport.com/anybotics-begins-delivering-anymal-x-legged-robot-explosive-atmospheres/ appeared first on The Robot Report https://www.therobotreport.com . Get AI news in your inbox Daily digest of what matters in AI.