ANYbotics delivers ANYmal X for explosive industrial atmospheres

ANYbotics has officially started customer deliveries of ANYmal X, the world’s first legged inspection robot certified for explosive atmospheres. Purpose-built to meet the stringent ATEX and IECEx safety standards of the oil, gas, and chemical sectors, the robot is now shipping to industry leaders such as Equinor and DSM-Firmenich. ANYmal X utilizes an advanced industrial AI stack to execute autonomous inspection rounds in hazardous environments, keeping human operators safely away from dangerous zones.

Navigating complex and hazardous environments
Standard robots are typically banned from critical zones containing pumps, compressors, and valves due to ignition risks. ANYmal X overcomes this by employing a novel explosion-protection approach. Its AI computer and inspection equipment are housed in nitrogen-filled, sealed chambers, while its twelve leg actuators and battery are enclosed in flameproof casings. Operating without the need for facility modifications, the robot navigates steep stairs and narrow walkways. Its integrated thermal, visual, acoustic, and gas sensors detect overheating, leaks, and abnormal noise, logging data directly to the corresponding asset via the Shift operations platform.

Reducing downtime through predictive maintenance
Unplanned downtime caused by undetected equipment failures costs the oil and gas sector up to $500,000 per hour. By providing continuous, repeatable, and structured observational data, ANYmal X establishes a standardized baseline for asset health. This enables reliability engineers to intervene before minor wear escalates into costly plant shutdowns. Furthermore, the robot's integration with existing plant maintenance software, such as SAP and Yokogawa, converts these autonomous inspection findings directly into actionable maintenance work orders.

Additional Context: ATEX/IECEx certification for mobile robotics
This section details electromechanical safety standards and hazardous area classifications not included in the original press release.

In explosive atmospheres (Ex zones), airborne concentrations of flammable gases, vapors, or combustible dusts pose a catastrophic ignition risk. Traditional fixed industrial equipment achieves ATEX (Europe) or IECEx (global) compliance either through intrinsically safe circuits (which limit electrical and thermal energy to levels below the ignition threshold) or by using massive cast-metal explosion-proof enclosures designed to contain an internal blast. Neither of these legacy methods is viable for a dynamic legged robot, which requires high-power, high-torque actuators to climb stairs and a lightweight chassis to maintain agility. To resolve this, engineers must utilize advanced protective paradigms such as active pressurization (Ex p)—where internal compartments are purged with inert nitrogen at a positive pressure to prevent flammable external gases from entering—coupled with advanced non-sparking materials, anti-static conductive grounding feet, and isolated energy barriers for charging interfaces, ensuring no single fault can trigger an external explosion.

Edited by an industrial journalist, Lekshman Ramdas, with AI assistance.

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