ANYbotics ships ANYmal X, its explosion-proof legged robot, to Equinor and DSM-Firmenich
ANYbotics said in a press release on Oct 27 that it has begun delivering ANYmal X, a four-legged inspection robot built to ATEX and IECEx explosion-protection rules for oil, gas and chemical plants, with Equinor and DSM-Firmenich among the first customers.
BP, Shell, PETRONAS, Petrobras, BASF and SLB tested it in early access since 2023, the Zurich company said.
ANYbotics has started shipping ANYmal X, a legged robot designed to work inside explosive atmospheres, the Zurich company said in a press release on Oct 27. The robot is built to the European ATEX and international IECEx explosion-protection schemes and takes over routine inspection rounds in hazardous zones of oil, gas and chemical sites. Equinor and DSM-Firmenich are named as customers receiving robots; BP, Equinor, Shell, PETRONAS, Petrobras, BASF and SLB have tested it in an early-access programme since 2023, across what the company calls hundreds of onshore and offshore missions.
The release describes the protection concept rather than a spec sheet: nitrogen-filled sealed chambers, flameproof housings for the leg actuators and battery, and energy barriers on the charging and data connections. Chief executive Péter Fankhauser said four years of engineering and more than ten patents went into the robot. ANYmal X runs on Shift, the inspection software ANYbotics launched in September, which connects to SAP, Yokogawa and SLB systems, and it was shown at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi with SLB and Kuwait Oil Company. Price, runtime, payload and certificate zone classes were not given.
MEKAWIRE context: ANYbotics' last disclosed rounds in our database are a USD 50 million Series B (May 2023) and USD 60 million of additional funding (December 2024). An explosion-protected legged robot opens refinery and chemical-plant areas that until now needed crawlers or people. The company says more than 50 customers already run over 120,000 autonomous inspections a month across its fleet.