The Pulse
ANYbotics Starts ANYmal X Deliveries More Than Three Years Late
ANYbotics says it has begun shipping its ANYmal X inspection robot to oil, gas and chemical companies, including Equinor and DSM-Firmenich. The deliveries follow a mid-2023 target announced in 2022, when the company said Early Access Progra
AI.info Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
ANYbotics said on October 27, 2026, that it has started shipping its ANYmal X inspection robot to oil, gas and chemical companies—more than three years after the company’s earlier target for first deliveries. The Zurich robotics firm named Equinor and DSM-Firmenich among the customers receiving the machines, but did not disclose how many units are shipping or why the schedule changed.
A 2023 delivery target becomes a 2026 shipment
In September 2022, ANYbotics opened commercial orders and said the first deliveries to selected customers would begin in mid-2023. The same announcement said Early Access Program participants had reserved more than 500 ANYmal X units.
The latest release says energy and chemical companies including BP, Equinor, Shell, PETRONAS, Petrobras, BASF and SLB tested ANYmal X across hundreds of onshore and offshore missions through an Early Access Program that began in 2023. ANYbotics says that customer feedback helped refine the robot now being delivered. It gives no explanation for the gap between the original target and the shipment announcement.
Designed to inspect where ordinary robots cannot go
ANYmal X is a four-legged robot intended to conduct routine inspection rounds in hazardous plant areas. Its sensors collect visual, thermal and acoustic readings, while an optional gas-sensing module measures selected gases. The company says the robot can climb stairs and traverse narrow walkways without facility modifications, logging readings against the assets it inspects.
Explosion protection shapes the machine’s construction. ANYbotics says the robot’s AI computer and inspection equipment sit in sealed, nitrogen-filled chambers; flameproof casings protect its battery and 12 leg actuators. Conductive feet provide grounding, temperature cutoffs monitor heat, and energy barriers protect charging and data connections. The robot’s software also checks its condition before, during and after missions, according to the company.
“Many experts thought a legged robot could never be made safe for explosive atmospheres.”
Péter Fankhauser, co-founder and CEO of ANYbotics
The company says four years of engineering and more than ten patents went into the design.
ATEX certification is specified; IECEx status needs care
ANYbotics describes the robot as built to meet ATEX and IECEx standards in its delivery announcement. Its product page is more specific: it says ANYmal X is ATEX-certified for Zones 1 and 2, Gas Group IIB and temperature class T4, while IECEx certification will be available with first production. The page also says the robot is not intended for Zone 0, explosive dust atmospheres or IIC gases such as hydrogen and acetylene.
That distinction matters to plant operators evaluating where the machine can work. Explosion protection is not a blanket approval for every hazardous area; the product page identifies operating limits, and says charging and nitrogen refilling take place outside the hazardous area. ANYbotics’ launch announcement does not provide customer-specific details about the zones or sites covered by the new shipments.
Shipments move the test from trials to customer use
ANYmal X runs on ANYbotics’ Shift platform, which schedules missions, organizes findings by asset and connects inspection results to plant systems including SAP, Yokogawa and SLB. The company says its broader inspection system is used by more than 50 customers in power, metals and materials, who collectively run over 120,000 autonomous inspections each month. Those figures describe the wider system, not ANYmal X deliveries or results.
The announcement names Equinor and DSM-Firmenich as recipients but does not state shipment volumes, prices, or a customer-by-customer deployment schedule. ANYbotics says it plans to show ANYmal X and its industrial AI system at ADIPEC 2026 with SLB and Kuwait Oil Company. For now, the announced milestone is the start of customer deliveries—not a published tally of robots in operation.