Artificial intelligence
ABB takes over Sevensense
ABB today announced the acquisition of Swiss startup Sevensense, a provider of AI-powered 3D vision navigation technology for autonomous mobile robots (AMR). Sevensense was founded in 2018 as a spin-off of ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
"The transaction is an important step towards our vision of a working environment in which AI-powered robots support people. We are responding to our customers' increasing demands for more flexibility and intelligence in times of acute skills shortages," said Sami Atiya, Head of ABB's Robotics & Factory Automation business unit.
"Equipped with image processing technology and AI, each mobile robot scans a specific part of the building. The fields of view of all the robots are combined to form a complete map so that the AMRs can work autonomously even in rapidly changing environments."
Existing innovation partnership
The acquisition follows ABB's purchase of a minority stake in Sevensense, after the two companies had already entered into an innovation partnership in 2021. In the same year, ABB also acquired ASTI Mobile Robotics. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Following pilot projects with customers in the automotive and logistics industries, ABB will integrate Sevensense's technology into its AMR portfolio.
The market for mobile robots is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent from USD 5.5 billion to USD 9.5 billion by 2026. ABB's AI-supported 3D vision technology plays a leading role here.
Sevensense's innovative navigation technology combines AI and 3D image processing. This enables AMR to make intelligent decisions and differentiate between fixed and moving objects in dynamic environments. After one-time manual guidance, mobile robots use Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology to create a map that enables them to operate independently, reducing commissioning time from weeks to days and allowing AMRs to navigate in highly complex, dynamic environments where people are also present. The maps are continuously updated and shared across the fleet, enabling instant scalability without interrupting operations and greater flexibility compared to other navigation technologies.
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