The Security Bot · Part of The Humanoid Group
Inspection Robots
Inspection robots go where routine checks are dull, dirty or dangerous: substations, plant rooms, mines and tunnels. They follow a repeatable round and capture imagery, readings and 3D maps each time.
Reviewed . Prices and availability are read live.
Buying advice
Decide what each inspection round must deliver
Before comparing ANYbotics, Exyn Technologies and Leica Geosystems, decide what your team needs to receive after each run: trend data for specific gauges and hot spots, a survey-grade model of a space nobody can safely enter, or both. Ask each maker for a sample dataset from a comparable site and check that it opens in the tools your engineers already use. A field study from ETH Zurich, describing ANYmal inspecting an offshore HVDC converter platform in the North Sea, gives a useful picture of the preparation a site needs before a robot can work there.
Read the Ex certificate, not the brochure
A label saying a robot suits hazardous areas means little without the certificate behind it. In the EU, equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres falls under Directive 2014/34/EU, known as ATEX, and the European Commission publishes the harmonised standards used to show conformity. Internationally, the IECEx Certified Equipment Scheme issues certificates of conformity that you can check in its online database. Ask for the certificate number, confirm that the zone and gas group match your area classification, and check whether payloads, chargers and docking stations are covered as well as the robot itself.
Costs that arrive after the robot does
Our October 2026 pass found that the three listings carrying a published price ranged from about $150,000 for the Robotic Skylark (Leica) up to about $250,000 for the ANYmal Inspection, so no listing here needed a quote. The purchase price is only the start. Budget for mapping the site and setting up missions, wireless coverage in plant rooms and tunnels, software licences, data storage and analysis, and linking findings to your maintenance management system. Ask how long repairs take, whether a loan unit is available while yours is away, and who on your team will own the robot day to day. A robot that sits idle because nobody is trained to run it is the most expensive one you can own.
What to look for
- Whether it can handle the stairs, gratings and terrain on your site
- Sensors for your checks: thermal, acoustic, gas or 3D mapping
- Hazardous-area certification if you work in potentially explosive atmospheres
Common questions
Why use a legged robot for inspection?
Legs let a robot climb stairs and step over cables and gratings in sites built for people, where wheeled platforms may struggle.
Can inspection robots work without GPS?
Some, including aerial systems designed for mines and indoor spaces, navigate with onboard sensors such as LiDAR. Check each model's navigation method against your site.
Sources and further reading
- ANYmal in the Field: Solving Industrial Inspection of an Offshore HVDC Platform with a Quadrupedal Robot — ETH Zurich Research Collection (Field and Service Robotics, Springer).
Field study of a legged robot automating inspection rounds on a North Sea HVDC converter platform. - Equipment for explosive atmospheres (ATEX) — European Commission.
Commission page on Directive 2014/34/EU, with guidance and the current list of harmonised standards. - IECEx Certified Equipment Scheme: overview — IECEx, the IEC certification system for explosive atmospheres.
How international Ex equipment certification works, from test reports to certificates you can check online.
People also search for inspection robot, industrial inspection robot, inspection robot dog, legged inspection robot, autonomous inspection robot and substation inspection robot.