ANYmal D Explorer
The ANYmal D Explorer is a quadruped inspection robot developed by ANYbotics that autonomously navigates industrial environments to collect multi-modal sensor data for predictive maintenance and safety monitoring. It can climb stairs, recover from falls, and self-dock for charging, with verified long-term deployments in cement plants, offshore platforms, substations, mines, and steel plants.
Overview and Use Cases
The ANYmal D Explorer is an industrial quadruped robot designed for autonomous inspection in complex, hazardous, or difficult-to-access environments. It has been deployed in long-term operational settings including cement plants, offshore platforms, electrical substations, underground mines, and steel manufacturing facilities. The robot performs thousands of inspections per week with no human physically present at inspection sites, reducing exposure to occupational hazards and improving inspection frequency and consistency.
Key Capabilities
- Autonomous navigation through complex industrial terrain
- Stair climbing and fall recovery
- Self-docking and autonomous charging
- Dual operation modes: fully autonomous scheduled missions and teleoperated control
- Multi-modal sensor data collection for anomaly detection
- Alert generation and anomaly flagging for human review
- Extended mission deployments without human intervention during inspection tasks
Specifications
- Weight: Approximately 50 kg
- Nominal Speed: 1.3 m/s
- Maximum Speed: Up to 2 m/s over obstacles (research conditions)
- Payload Capacity: Approximately 10 kg
- Battery Life: 1.5–2 hours per mission
Applications
The ANYmal D Explorer is used for:
- Predictive maintenance monitoring in industrial facilities
- Safety inspections in hazardous environments
- Thermal imaging surveys
- Acoustic and vibration monitoring
- Gas detection and environmental sampling
- Visual documentation and asset assessment
- Routine scheduled inspections reducing downtime and labor costs
Manufacturer
The ANYmal D Explorer is developed by ANYbotics, founded in 2016 as a spin-out from ETH Zurich with headquarters in Zurich.
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