ANYbotics Begins Deliveries of Quaduped Inspection Robots for Explosive Industrial Environments

Insider Brief

• ANYbotics has begun customer deliveries of ANYmal X, a four-legged inspection robot designed for explosive environments in oil, gas and chemical facilities.
• The company said the robot meets ATEX and IECEx requirements and uses thermal, visual, acoustic and gas sensors to inspect equipment while keeping workers out of hazardous areas.
• ANYmal X operates with ANYbotics’ Shift platform, which schedules missions, tracks robot status and connects inspection results with existing maintenance and asset-management systems.

ANYbotics has begun customer deliveries of ANYmal X, a four-legged inspection robot designed to operate in explosive environments at oil, gas and chemical facilities.

The Zurich-based robotics company announced the system is shipping to customers including Equinor and DSM-Firmenich. ANYbotics describes ANYmal X as the first legged inspection robot built for explosive atmospheres, where equipment must be designed to avoid becoming an ignition source.

“Many experts thought a legged robot could never be made safe for explosive atmospheres,” co-founder and CEO Péter Fankhauser said in the announcement. “Oil, gas and chemical plants are among the most hazardous and most costly places to operate. 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.”

The launch follows an early-access program that began in 2023. ANYbotics said BP, Equinor, Shell, PETRONAS, Petrobras, BASF and SLB tested the robot across hundreds of onshore and offshore missions before commercial deliveries began.

ANYmal X is designed to perform autonomous inspection rounds in areas where flammable gases or vapors may be present. The robot can navigate stairs, narrow walkways and other industrial environments while using thermal, visual, acoustic and gas sensors to check equipment including pumps, compressors, valves and piping, according to ANYbotics.

The system can identify conditions such as overheating, gas leaks, abnormal sounds and equipment wear, and inspection readings are associated with individual assets so maintenance teams can compare conditions over time.

Built for Explosive Environments

ANYbotics said ANYmal X was engineered to meet ATEX requirements in Europe and the IECEx international standard. The company indicated it spent four years developing the robot and secured more than 10 patents related to the project.

Computing and sensors — The robot’s AI computer and inspection equipment are housed in sealed, nitrogen-filled chambers.

Motors and battery — Its battery and 12 leg actuators are protected by flameproof enclosures designed to prevent an internal ignition from reaching the surrounding atmosphere.

Electrical protection — Conductive feet provide grounding, while charging and data connections use energy barriers intended to prevent exposed electrical energy in hazardous areas.

Monitoring — The robot continuously monitors operating conditions, including temperature, and can automatically shut down when necessary.

Connecting Inspections With Plant Systems

ANYmal X operates with Shift, ANYbotics’ software platform for managing autonomous industrial inspections. Plant operators can use the system to schedule missions and monitor robot status, location and battery levels. Inspection results and alerts can also be connected with existing maintenance and asset-management systems through the company’s API.

ANYbotics said Shift can integrate inspection information with systems from companies including SAP, Yokogawa and SLB, allowing maintenance teams to use robot-generated findings within existing workflows.

The company said more than 50 customers in the power, metals and materials sectors currently use its inspection system to conduct more than 120,000 autonomous inspections each month. That figure covers ANYbotics’ broader inspection platform rather than deployments of the newly released ANYmal X alone.

ANYbotics plans to publicly demonstrate ANYmal X at ADIPEC 2026 with SLB and Kuwait Oil Company.