ANYbotics introduces automated door access for ANYmal robot fleet

AI-driven robotic inspection technology company ANYbotics announced a partnership with dormakaba and LEGIC Identsystems AG to add automated door access capabilities to its ANYmal robot fleet.

ANYbotics said that until now, closed doors presented a hard physical boundary for mobile robotics operating in processing industries like energy, metals, mining and chemicals, restricting inspection routes to isolated rooms.

Unlocking facility-wide inspections

By integrating directly into existing facility access systems, ANYbotics said that ANYmal can now navigate through both unlocked and locked doors across complex, multi-zone environments without requiring structural modifications or manual intervention. The company said that this enables continuous, facility-wide inspections that provide actionable operational insights, increasing plant uptime, reducing costs and keeping human workers out of hazardous areas. 

"Our customers do not buy robots, they buy a solution to their operational challenges: less unplanned downtime and fewer people in hazardous areas,” said Péter Fankhauser, co-founder and CEO of ANYbotics. “The impact is measured in how many critical assets our robots inspect, how often, and how reliably. Doors were a hard limit on that coverage. With dormakaba and LEGIC, ANYmal can move through doors like any authorized colleague, under the same rules and the same audit trail. The access-controlled door pilot has proven this works in a live operating environment, and we will now make that function available as an add-on across the entire ANYmal fleet."

Piloted access-controlled door access 

For doors in secure or restricted areas, ANYbotics said that presence detection alone is not enough.

To address locked doors, ANYbotics, dormakaba, and LEGIC Identsystems AG have developed what the companies call a first-of-its-kind, access-managed door opening offering that integrates their core technologies:

• ANYbotics provides the autonomous mobile robot platform via ANYmal
• LEGIC supplies the secure digital credential technology
• dormakaba provides the access management and door automation systems

"Inspection only delivers value if the robot can reach the asset, and a closed door was the one obstacle that stopped our robots from covering the most critical parts of a plant," said Jacob Euler-Rolle, product management, workflow integration at ANYbotics. "Solving it with LEGIC and dormakaba means ANYmal can now inspect where it matters most, without rebuilding any infrastructure."

ANYbotics said that the new access-controlled door authentication system treats the robot like an authorized employee. Plant operators maintain complete control over who or what enters specific areas, governing ANYmal's movement within existing security systems and limiting access to defined zones, operating windows or inspection tasks.

Rather than bypassing plant security or leaving controlled doors permanently open, ANYbotics said that ANYmal carries a LEGIC security payload that gives it a trusted digital identity, in effect, an electronic access pass for the robot.

"This is about authenticating autonomous systems; issuing a trusted identity, in effect, a badge for the robot,” said Mehdi Elhaoussine, GM at LEGIC Identsystems AG. “With this project, we are taking a major step into physical AI, extending LEGIC's secure access credential technologies from people and objects to machines.”

As ANYmal approaches a protected doorway, it requests access electronically from dormakaba’s exos access management system. The system determines whether to grant access based on predefined permissions, logging the movement and unlocking the door automatically for ANYmal.

Commercially available automated door access 

ANYbotics said that it offers fully automated door access for unlocked doors through a strategic partnership with access automation specialist dormakaba. When ANYmal approaches an unlocked door on its planned route, the company said that a radar sensor detects its presence and triggers a retrofitted dormakaba ED 100 or ED 250 door operator. The door opens automatically, ANYmal passes through and the door closes safely behind it.

"The joint pilot illustrates how access solutions are evolving beyond traditional applications for human users,” said David Fuller, chief innovation officer at dormakaba. “By securely authenticating and authorizing autonomous machines, access management can become an important enabler for the next generation of industrial automation.”

Operating purely on presence detection, without access credentials, ANYbotics said that this retrofitted system works on existing doors and complies with indoor, outdoor and fire-rated specifications. To support deployment, dormakaba’s localized teams handle surveying, hardware quoting and installation directly for ANYbotics customers.

Validated at GE Vernova’s Whitegate Power Station

ANYbotics said that the new joint offering was proven in a live operating environment at GE Vernova’s Whitegate power plant in County Cork, Ireland. Over several weeks of continuous testing, ANYbotics said that ANYmal has operated reliably, repeatedly requesting access, passing through controlled doors, and completing its inspection routes without manual intervention.

"The door passage solution allows ANYmal to move seamlessly between plant zones without compromising safety or security rules," said Brian Carroll, maintenance engineer at GE Vernova Whitegate. "By letting the door open automatically for the robot, we can automate routine inspection runs across the entire facility while keeping fire and security barriers intact."

The new access-controlled payload add-on will be available to current ANYbotics deployments and future ANYmal hardware platforms later this year. ANYbotics, dormakaba, and LEGIC Identsystems AG are also exploring further applications, including automated access to elevators, gates, and turnstiles to extend autonomous routes through larger facilities.