ANYbotics is a robotics company based in Zurich, Switzerland, spun out of the Robotic Systems Lab at ETH Zurich. Its product is ANYmal, a four-legged (quadrupedal) robot designed for autonomous operation in demanding industrial environments. The lab built a series of quadruped research robots starting around 2009, culminating in the first ANYmal in 2016, and ANYmal became the platform for much of the influential learning-based legged-locomotion research of the late 2010s and early 2020s.
ANYmal weighs under 30 kilograms and is driven by special compliant, precisely torque-controllable actuators that allow dynamic running and climbing rather than the stiff, careful stepping of older legged machines. It carries laser scanners and cameras to map its surroundings, localize itself, and choose footholds, plus more than two hours of battery autonomy. Its first real-world application was industrial inspection of oil and gas sites, where it can carry optical and thermal cameras, microphones, and gas-detection sensors.
The robot is used commercially for routine inspections at energy and industrial facilities, including hazardous, potentially explosive environments served by a specially certified version. ANYmal is a real-world counterpart to Boston Dynamics’ Spot in the market for legged inspection robots.
For a general reader, ANYbotics shows the path from a university research robot to a deployed industrial tool, and why dangerous, repetitive inspection rounds are among the first jobs legged robots are actually doing for pay.