ANYbotics sends inspection robots into explosive environments

On March 22, 2022, ANYbotics presented a world premiere in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia (OTC Asia). ANYmal X is the world’s first explosion-proof inspection robot on legs. As detailed in a press release, operators in the oil and gas and chemicals industries can now include safe, autonomous and highly mobile robots in their inspection and workforce planning. According to the press release, several global operators have already signed up for the ANYmal X partner program. These include the Norwegian energy company Equinor, which is active in 30 countries, the Brazilian oil and gas producer Petrobras, which operates a total of 57 oil platforms, and the London-based global corporation Shell.

Peter Welter, Automation Manager at BASF, explains in the press release how, for the first time, ANYmal X “closes an important technical gap” by conducting automated inspections in very complex environments that involve stairs and tight passages in combination with explosion hazard zones, something which he concludes is a “novelty”. According to Gustavo Levin, R&D Manager at Petrobras, ANYmal X can become an “autonomous plant surveyor, an on-demand inspector and an important tool to respond to safety incidents”.

ANYbotics, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), also agreed a commercial partnership with the Malaysian petroleum company Petronas at OTC Asia. Petronas, one of the 500 largest companies in the world, will scale the deployment of ANYmal X in its upstream and downstream facilities in addition to promoting adoption of the robot across the industry by 2025. “We are thrilled about this industry-wide impact to improve the safety and efficiency of operations in oil & gas and chemicals through our robotic solution”, comments ANYbotics CEO Peter Fankhauser.