ANYbotics AG, a leading provider of four-legged inspection robots for heavy industry, today announced it’s shipping the world’s first legged robot designed to operate in dangerous environments where a spark or fire could trigger an explosion.

The new robot, named ANYmal X, is a dog-like robot that can patrol and inspect equipment where specialist technicians otherwise move between heavy equipment wearing dampened gear and avoid situations that might trigger an explosion.

The platform is now shipping to several oil, gas and chemical industry leaders, including multinational energy company Equinor ASA and Swiss-Dutch specialty chemical company DSM-Firmenich AG.

“Four years of pioneering engineering with more than ten patents went into ANYmal X,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Péter Fankhauser. “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.”

Energy and chemical industry leaders BP p.l.c., Equinor, Shell plc, Petroliam Nasional Berhad, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., BASF SE and SLB N.V. began testing the ANYmal robots in 2023 across hundreds of onshore and offshore facilities through ANYbotics early access program. They used the data and knowledge from their participation to refine the platform into the industrial-grade robot being shipped today.

Making a legged robot safe around flammable gases is not simply a matter of giving it a tougher shell. It means controlling potential ignition sources throughout the machine so its electrical components and hot surfaces cannot set off the surrounding atmosphere.

Legged robots are made up of complex components, which must be isolated from the atmosphere. As a result, they are banned from oil, gas and chemical refineries and other hazardous atmospheres where explosions can happen. In these environments, preventable downtime can translate into massive profit losses.

Autonomous inspection robots target a growing industrial market, with research firms estimating global oil-and-gas inspection robotics revenue at roughly $800 million to $1 billion annually, according to Fortune Business Insights. The broader opportunity includes chemical plants and spending on conventional inspection services, although published estimates do not consistently isolate that combined market.

Undetected equipment failures can cost companies roughly $1.4 trillion each year in downtime, according to ANYbotics. In the oil and gas sector alone, Siemens AG reported a single hour can translate to almost $500,000 and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reported that historically extraction workers in the United States face dangerous conditions, creating fatality rates seven times the national average.

Robots to go where no human should

“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 Chief Technology Officer Andrea Corda.

Companies make fixed equipment compliant by housing it in heavy, explosion-proof enclosures, with limited exposure to the outside environment. Legged robots are a completely different endeavor, with exposed cameras and sensors required for navigation and ports needed for docking. Every component must be certified explosion-proof so it won’t ignite a spark, or, if it does, it will prevent heat sources or combustion from spreading to outside environments — all while maintaining payload capacity, agility and operating speed.

The company said it engineered ANYmal X from the ground up to comply with oil, gas and chemical industry safety standards. ANYbotics performed comprehensive ignition risk assessments and implemented safeguards for every potential ignition source.

“Today, more than 50 power, metals and materials customers use this system to run over 120,000 autonomous inspections every month,” said Chief Revenue Officer Thierry Obédé.

Image: ANYbotics