Robot dogs inspecting industrial sites

How close is routine use of four-legged robots for inspection at plants, offshore platforms, mines and tunnels?

Operators have trialled four-legged robots at refineries and offshore platforms. Cargill has run a Spot pilot in its Amsterdam plant since mid-2024, and ANYbotics reports that Petrobras bought six ANYmal X units for US$4 million. Most results come from makers and operators, and the figures are not independently measured. Research test runs of 35 and 49 consecutive days show autonomous rounds are possible, but still need operator restarts and re-localisation. Routine, unattended inspection at scale, and in operating mines and tunnels, is not yet shown in the sources reviewed.

AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.
WHERE WE AREPilots

Close. Early pilots are running in the real world.

Several operators have run pilots, and at least one has bought units, so these robots have been shown working at real industrial sites. The sources reviewed show short or unquantified trials, mostly reported by makers and operators. None shows routine, independently measured inspection across plants, offshore platforms, mines or tunnels. Pilot fits better than scaling for that reason.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Robot dogs inspecting industrial sites Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2019Legged robotsCommercial Unlocked.
  1. 2022Explosive-atmosphere (Zone 1) certified legged robotDone Unlocked.
  2. 2023Autonomous inspection rounds in research test runsDone Unlocked.
  3. 2023Paid purchase and offshore trial by a national oil companyIn progress Being researched.
  4. 2024Plant pilot alongside manual roundsIn progress Being researched.
  5. 2025Gas leak detection payload for legged inspectionIn progress Being researched.
  6. Date not recordedMulti-week offshore platform testDone Unlocked.
  7. Date not recordedRefinery trials by an oil majorDone Unlocked.
  8. Date not recordedRoutine unattended rounds at plants, with independent resultsNot started Locked.
  9. Date not recordedRoutine inspection in operating mines and tunnelsNot started Locked.
  1. GoalRobot dogs inspecting industrial sitesGoalRequires: Legged robots, Autonomous inspection rounds in research test runs, Multi-week offshore platform test, Refinery trials by an oil major, Plant pilot alongside manual rounds, Paid purchase and offshore trial by a national oil company, Explosive-atmosphere (Zone 1) certified legged robot, Gas leak detection payload for legged inspection, Routine unattended rounds at plants, with independent results, Routine inspection in operating mines and tunnels. Locked.

The road so far

4 of 9 steps done, 3 in progress.

  1. Done · 18 Jul 2023Autonomous inspection rounds in research test runs

    Researchers from the University of Oxford and UKAEA ran a Boston Dynamics Spot with a custom sensor payload on autonomous inspection rounds for 49 consecutive days at the RACE B1 test facility at Culham, and for 35 consecutive days in the JET fusion reactor torus hall at Culham. The preprint reports 84 missions and 673 of 730 inspection actions completed at B1 (about 92%). It reports 25 interventions at B1 and 16 at JET, and says operators still re-localised the robot and restarted software. These are research runs, not plant service. [8]

  2. DoneMulti-week offshore platform test

    PETRONAS first tested ANYmal C on onshore training platforms, then ran a multi-week deployment on its offshore Dulang B platform. ANYbotics' article, dated 22 January 2021, gives no year for the deployment and no quantified inspection results. PETRONAS staff said the aim was to reduce health, safety and environment risks and operating costs. [4]

  3. DoneRefinery trials by an oil major

    bp tested Spot at a training facility, then for a week at its Whiting refinery near Chicago in a live onshore setting. The case study reports that Spot was less reliable on grated stairs at first, and that Boston Dynamics updated its software to close the gap. A methane-sensing payload can shut the robot down in high-gas-risk areas. The case study gives no trial dates and no measured results. [2]

  4. In progress · 2024Plant pilot alongside manual rounds

    Cargill's Amsterdam Multiseed plant, which includes a crush facility and a refinery, has run a Spot pilot since mid-2024. Missions take about two hours and run on several shifts. Manual inspections continue alongside the robot, and operators set each mission by driving Spot to every inspection point. Cargill reports that Spot found an air leak on a centrifuge during a demonstration, and that thermal readings led to a change of lubricant. The company reports these results without measured productivity gains. [3]

  5. In progress · 22 Nov 2023Paid purchase and offshore trial by a national oil company

    ANYbotics reports that Petrobras invested US$4 million in six ANYmal X units. It also reports a 2023 field test of an ANYmal X on the FPSO P-74, with a long-term pilot planned for 2024. The article gives no measured inspection results and lists no limitations. The price and plans are the vendor's statements. [6]

  6. Done · 22 Mar 2022Explosive-atmosphere (Zone 1) certified legged robot

    ANYbotics states that ANYmal X is approved under IECEx and ATEX for use in Zone 1 explosive atmospheres. The article says the robot matches the standard ANYmal in performance and mobility, and that its sensors include gas detection. It does not name a gas group or give payload or battery figures. This is the maker's claim. The sources reviewed do not show the same certification for a Spot configuration. [5]

  7. In progress · 17 Jun 2025Gas leak detection payload for legged inspection

    In June 2025, ANYbotics launched a gas leak and presence detection add-on for ANYmal, which pairs swappable gas detectors with a 360-degree acoustic imaging payload. It names one customer, DSM-Firmenich, and gives no test conditions, detection rates or limitations. This is a product launch, not an independent evaluation. [7]

  8. Not startedRoutine unattended rounds at plants, with independent results

    The sources reviewed show no plant where a legged robot runs routine rounds without people present, with independently measured counts of inspections completed, faults found or cost. The longest research run still needed human restarts and re-localisation. The plant pilots reviewed are described in company case studies. [8][3]

  9. Not startedRoutine inspection in operating mines and tunnels

    The two long research runs were in a robotics test facility and a fusion reactor hall, not operating mines or live tunnels. The AutoInspect abstract also says the software has been deployed at a mine, a chemical plant and other sites for periods from hours to weeks, but the paper gives no inspection results for those deployments. The sources opened for this record do not show routine legged-robot inspection in an operating mine or tunnel. [8]

Why it matters

Inspection rounds take people into areas with gas, heat, noise and falling hazards. A robot that repeats the same route can read gauges, log temperatures and listen for leaks. If that work proves dependable, operators could reduce how often people must enter hazardous areas. The gap between a pilot and a reliable inspection service is where the cost and safety case will be settled.

What stands in the way

  • Battery: Boston Dynamics lists Spot's average runtime as 90 minutes, with a 60-minute recharge, and says runtime varies with payload and environment.
  • Payload: Spot's maximum payload is 14 kg, which limits how many sensors a robot can carry on one mission.
  • Stairs and grated surfaces: bp found Spot less reliable on grated stairs at first, and the fix came from software changes made by the maker.
  • Reliability: in the research runs, excluding minor interventions, the mean time between interventions was 78 hours at B1 and 140 hours at JET. Serious and fatal interventions included manual re-localisations, navigation and localisation restarts, and full software stack restarts.
  • Hazardous areas: the Zone 1 approval reviewed is for ANYmal X, a maker claim. For Spot, the sources reviewed show a gas payload that can stop the robot in high-gas-risk areas, not a certified Zone 1 configuration.
  • Manipulation: the sources opened describe sensing payloads, such as cameras, thermal, acoustic and gas sensors. None shows routine operation of valves or switches.
  • Energy and cost: a 2018 review concludes that robot energy economy lags far behind biological systems. Most results are maker or operator reports, and the sources reviewed give no independent return-on-investment figures.

Published forecasts

What others have predicted. These are their estimates, not ours.

WhoForecastTimeframeMade
ANYbotics and PETRONASThe ANYbotics article states that the two companies were co-developing an Ex-certified ANYmal for Zone 1 areas and targeted commercial use of ANYmal in potentially explosive environments in 2022. A later ANYbotics article, dated 22 March 2022, reports that ANYmal X was approved to IECEx and ATEX standards for Zone 1. [4]202222 Jan 2021

Signals to watch

  • An operator publishing dated, measured results for a robot's inspection rounds, such as inspections completed, faults found and robot downtime, over several months.
  • Cargill or Petrobras announcing a move from pilot to a named multi-site rollout.
  • Independent testing of battery runtime that confirms or revises the 90-minute figure under plant conditions.
  • A Zone 1 or Zone 2 certificate issued for a Spot configuration, from the maker or a certifying body.
  • A peer-reviewed field study of routine inspection in an operating mine or tunnel.

Sources

  1. company announcement
    Spot (Boston Dynamics product page)
    Boston Dynamics, 2026.
  2. company announcement
    bp (Boston Dynamics case study)
    Boston Dynamics, 2026.
  3. company announcement
    Spot at Cargill
    Boston Dynamics, 2026.
  4. company announcement
    ANYmal C inspection of PETRONAS Dulang B platform (ANYbotics article)
    ANYbotics, 22 Jan 2021.
  5. company announcement
    ANYmal X: the world's first Ex-proof legged robot (ANYbotics article)
    ANYbotics, 22 Mar 2022.
  6. company announcement
    Petrobras and ANYbotics join efforts to automate offshore FPSO inspections
    ANYbotics, 22 Nov 2023.
  7. company announcement
    ANYbotics launches gas leak and presence detection for ANYmal
    ANYbotics, 17 Jun 2025.
  8. preprint
    AutoInspect: Towards Long-Term Autonomous Industrial Inspection
    Michal Staniaszek, Tobit Flatscher, Joseph Rowell et al.. arXiv, Apr 2024.
  9. review article
    An Overview on Principles for Energy Efficient Robot Locomotion
    Navvab Kashiri. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 11 Dec 2018.

Last reviewed 22 Oct 2026.