ABB buys company specialising in AI-driven mobile robots
Sevensense purchase exploits rising demand for industrial robots with eyes and brains that work independently
11 January 2024 - 17:49
byJohn Revill
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
An ABB autonomous robot equipped with Sevensense technology to navigate factories and warehouses. Picture: ABB/REUTERS
Zurich — ABB has bought a company specialising in boosting industrial robot mobility using artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D vision to move around factories and warehouses.
Buying Swiss start-up Sevensense is ABB’s latest robotics investment, based on rising demand for industrial robots that move and work independently.
Zurich-based Sevensense develops and makes sensor and AI systems that effectively give factory robots that deliver components to production lines the eyes and brains to navigate plants.
“In the past, robots which supplied production lines usually followed fixed magnetic strips, They took a long time to install and weren’t very flexible,” said Sami Atiya, ABB’s head of robotics and discrete automation.
“Now we have robots that can go all over the factory, but with eyes and a brain.”
Each robot equipped with six cameras can shift two tonnes of materials at speeds of 1.5m a second.
“Under the old system when you needed to change a production line of 100 metres, adding a new production cell for example, it was impossible to divert the robot,” said Atiya.
“Now we can do that easily,” he said.
The market for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) is expected to grow about 20% a year up to 2026, according to ABB estimates, expanding from $5.5bn in 2023 to $9.5bn by 2026.
This rate is faster than the one expected for conventional fixed robots, where ABB sees annual growth of 8%.
The deal to buy Sevensense is the latest investment by ABB, which competes with Japan’s FANUC and Germany’s Kuka in industrial robots. It comes after expansion of its US factory in 2023 and the purchase of ASTI Mobile Robotics in 2021. Acquisition terms were not disclosed.
The group’s technology is now being integrated into ABB’s products. Customers including carmaker Ford, which bought 300 robots for its Tennessee plant, and French tyre maker Michelin.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
ABB buys company specialising in AI-driven mobile robots
Sevensense purchase exploits rising demand for industrial robots with eyes and brains that work independently
Zurich — ABB has bought a company specialising in boosting industrial robot mobility using artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D vision to move around factories and warehouses.
Buying Swiss start-up Sevensense is ABB’s latest robotics investment, based on rising demand for industrial robots that move and work independently.
Zurich-based Sevensense develops and makes sensor and AI systems that effectively give factory robots that deliver components to production lines the eyes and brains to navigate plants.
“In the past, robots which supplied production lines usually followed fixed magnetic strips, They took a long time to install and weren’t very flexible,” said Sami Atiya, ABB’s head of robotics and discrete automation.
“Now we have robots that can go all over the factory, but with eyes and a brain.”
Each robot equipped with six cameras can shift two tonnes of materials at speeds of 1.5m a second.
“Under the old system when you needed to change a production line of 100 metres, adding a new production cell for example, it was impossible to divert the robot,” said Atiya.
“Now we can do that easily,” he said.
The market for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) is expected to grow about 20% a year up to 2026, according to ABB estimates, expanding from $5.5bn in 2023 to $9.5bn by 2026.
This rate is faster than the one expected for conventional fixed robots, where ABB sees annual growth of 8%.
The deal to buy Sevensense is the latest investment by ABB, which competes with Japan’s FANUC and Germany’s Kuka in industrial robots. It comes after expansion of its US factory in 2023 and the purchase of ASTI Mobile Robotics in 2021. Acquisition terms were not disclosed.
The group’s technology is now being integrated into ABB’s products. Customers including carmaker Ford, which bought 300 robots for its Tennessee plant, and French tyre maker Michelin.
Reuters
Humanoid robots in space: the next frontier
German businesses turn to robots as retiring baby boomers cause labour squeeze
RAMOSHIDI RAMOGAYANE: Government should use technology to modernise and improve public services
Daimler Truck subsidiary Torc tests self-driving trucks
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Humanoid robots in space: the next frontier
‘Human-like’ AI comes into cars at CES trade show
AI as the author, protagonist and villain
German businesses turn to robots as retiring baby boomers cause labour squeeze
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.