Rockwell and Taurob executives celebrate their partnership. Source: Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation Inc. last week singed an agreement with Taurob GmbH, a Dietsmann Group company, to provide robots that would enable industrial facilities to automate their operations. Vienna, Austria-based Taurob designs and manufactures ground robots for inspection, maintenance and data collection to optimize and enhance efficiency on a variety of industrial sites.
Kalypso, Rockwell’s digital services business, and Taurob said they will work together “to provide clients with an end-to-end robotic automation solution that will herald the next phase in industrial automation and transformation.” This partnership will promote Rockwell’s leadership in automation and digital twins and Taurob’s leadership in inspection robots.
“In working towards the goal of autonomous operations, many industrial companies have considered the design of facilities, connectivity, digital solutions, and artificial intelligence, but manual inspection of facilities is still commonplace,” stated Matt Graves, Kalypso digital principal for process industries.
“As a next phase in industrial automation, companies are now looking at how to automate fleets of inspection robots using digital twin and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies,” he added. “This partnership will be a huge step in helping our clients meet their efficiency, net zero, and safety goals.”
Taurob is certified for oil and gas
The oil and gas, mining, and chemicals industries have been interested in mitigating hazardous working environments and are thus interested in further automation, noted the partners. Taurob said its robots have ATEX certification for the oil and gas industry.
The company first obtained ATEX certification in 2012 for a mobile robot. It said this led to success in TotalEnergie’s ARGOS Challenge in 2014 and subsequent Joint Industry Projects (JIP) with TotalEnergies, Equinor, Adnoc and Petrobras, supported by the U.K.’s NZTC.
Founded in 2010, Taurob partnered with Dietsmann to enhance preventive inspections. The company now offers a suite of fully autonomous ATEX robots and integration with cloud-based applications for industrial site operations and inspections.
Taurob’s robots can perform missions under harsh environmental conditions to gather video, audio, and sensor data. They can also detect gas leaks and manipulate valves while adhering to strict industry safety standards and supporting customers’ net-zero initiatives.
In addition, Taurob said its systems are resistant to hot environments and offer up to four hours of mission runtime. The company has more than 50 employees.
Kalypso, Taurob to offer integrated inspection
Kalypso and Taurob plan to provide a holistic system including a physical robot, sensors, and supervision software. They will also offer mission data analysis using AI and machine learning, as well as systems integration.
The companies said this will allow organizations to automate inspection and maintenance. Their stated goal is to increase personnel safety, reduce operational expenditures (OPEX), and improve production throughput.
“Our partnership with Rockwell will become a game changer with respect to scaling our unique ATEX-certified robots around the world,” said Matthias Biegl, co-founder and managing director of Taurob. “Our respective expertise complements one another to offer an integrated solution, in addition to which we will be able to streamline sales and marketing efforts to optimize and enhance efficiency for our clients on a variety of industrial sites.”
Rockwell Automation builds up its ecosystem
Rockwell Automation claimed that it is the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation. Milwaukee-based Rockwell has about 29,000 employees suppoting customers in more than 100 countries.
Last year, Rockwell acquired mobile robot provider Clearpath Robotics and its subsidiary OTTO Motors. Rockwell received an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for its business expansion.
The company also said it has built a global Partner Network of technology, support, and services that no single vendor can provide alone to “deliver the value of the connected enterprise.”