Swiss company ANYbotics has started delivering ANYmal X, a four-legged inspection robot built for places where explosive gases may be present, to industrial customers including Equinor and DSM-Firmenich, Robotics & Automation News reports.
The robot is meant for oil, gas and chemical plants, where flammable gases and vapours rule out ordinary robots. Companies including BP, Shell, Petronas, Petrobras, BASF and SLB have tried it on hundreds of onshore and offshore inspection missions since 2023. ANYbotics describes it as the first legged inspection robot developed for explosive atmospheres.
Its AI computer and inspection equipment sit in sealed chambers filled with nitrogen, and its battery and twelve leg actuators have flameproof casings. The company says it is designed to meet ATEX and IECEx requirements, with ATEX certification for specified gas environments, including Zones 1 and 2. It checks pumps, compressors, valves and pipelines with visual, thermal, acoustic and gas sensors.
Péter Fankhauser, co-founder and chief executive of ANYbotics, said four years of engineering and more than ten patents went into the robot. "Many experts thought a legged robot could never be made safe for explosive atmospheres," he said.
Background
ANYmal X
Quadruped inspection robot
Four-legged inspection robot designed for potentially explosive areas in oil, gas and chemical plants.
