ABB Acquires Sevensense, Expanding Leadership in Next-generation AI-enabled Mobile Robotics
ABB收購Sevensense，擴大在下一代人工智能移動機器人領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)導地位

ABB has announced that it has acquired Swiss start-up Sevensense, a leading provider of AI-enabled 3D vision navigation technology for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Sevensense was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from Swiss technical University, ETH Zurich.

ABB宣布已收購瑞士初創(chuàng)公司Sev​​ensense，該公司是自主移動機器人 (AMR) 人工智能 3D 視覺導航技術(shù)的領(lǐng)先供應商。Sevensense 成立于 2018 年，是瑞士蘇黎世聯(lián)邦理工大學的衍生公司。

“This marks a significant step towards our vision of a workplace where AI-enabled robots assist people, addressing our customers' needs for greater flexibility and intelligence amidst critical skilled labor shortages,” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB Robotics and Discrete Automation. “Each mobile robot, equipped with vision and AI, scans a unique part of the building; collectively these robots complement each other’s view to form a complete map, enabling them to work autonomously in a rapidly changing environment.”

ABB 機器人和離散自動化總裁安世銘 (Sami Atiya) 表示：“這標志著我們向人工智能機器人協(xié)助人類的工作場所愿景邁出了重要一步，滿足了客戶在熟練勞動力嚴重短缺的情況下對更大靈活性和智能的需求。每個配備視覺和人工智能的移動機器人都會掃描建筑物的獨特部分；這些機器人共同補充彼此的視野，形成完整的地圖，使它們能夠在快速變化的環(huán)境中自主工作。”

The acquisition follows ABB’s minority investment in Sevensense after it joined the company’s innovation ecosystem in 2021, the same year ABB acquired ASTI Mobile Robotics. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Following pilot customer projects in the automotive and logistics industries, ABB will integrate Sevensense’s technology into the company’s AMR portfolio, offering an unprecedented combination of speed, accuracy, and payload.

在此次收購之前的2021年，ABB在Sevensense加入公司的創(chuàng)新生態(tài)系統(tǒng)后對其進行了少數(shù)股權(quán)投資，同年 ABB 收購了ASTI Mobile Robotics。此次交易的財務細節(jié)并未披露。繼汽車和物流行業(yè)的試點客戶項目之后，ABB 將把 Sevensense 的技術(shù)整合到公司的 AMR 產(chǎn)品組合中，提供前所未有的速度、準確性和有效負載組合。

The market for mobile robots is expected to grow at 20% CAGR through 2026, from $5.5bn to $9.5bn and ABB’s AI-powered 3D vision technology is at the forefront of this growth.

預計到 2026 年，移動機器人市場將以 20% 的復合年增長率增長，從 55 億美元增長到 95 億美元，而 ABB 的人工智能驅(qū)動的 3D 視覺技術(shù)處于這一增長的最前沿。

Sevensense’s pioneering navigation technology combines AI and 3D vision, enabling AMRs to make intelligent decisions, differentiating between fixed and mobile objects in dynamic environments. Once manually guided, mobile robots with Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology create a map that is used to operate independently, reducing commissioning time from weeks to days and enabling the AMRs to navigate in highly complex, dynamic environments alongside people. Maps are constantly updated and shared across the fleet, offering instant scalability without interrupting operations and greater flexibility compared to other navigation technologies.

Sevensense 的開創(chuàng)性導航技術(shù)結(jié)合了人工智能和 3D 視覺，使 AMR 能夠做出智能決策，區(qū)分動態(tài)環(huán)境中的固定和移動物體。一旦受到手動引導，采用基于視覺的同步定位與地圖重建(Visual SLAM) 技術(shù)的移動機器人就會創(chuàng)建用于獨立操作的地圖，從而將調(diào)試時間從幾周縮短到幾天，并使 AMR 能夠與人類一起在高度復雜、動態(tài)的環(huán)境中導航。地圖在整個車隊中不斷更新和共享，無需中斷操作即可提供即時可擴展性，并且與其他導航技術(shù)相比具有更大的靈活性。

Today, this AI-enabled navigation technology is already transforming the automotive manufacturing and logistics sectors, delivering value through faster and more efficient operations. For automotive manufacturer Ford, Visual SLAM enabled ABB AMR’s will create efficiency gains in production sites in the US, while Michelin will use the technology in intralogistics at its factory in Spain. Other automotive manufacturers will roll out the technology in the UK, Finland and Germany.

如今，這種支持人工智能的導航技術(shù)已經(jīng)正在改變汽車制造和物流行業(yè)，通過更快、更高效的運營來創(chuàng)造價值。對于汽車制造商福特來說，視覺 SLAM 支持的 ABB AMR 將提高美國生產(chǎn)基地的效率，而米其林將在其西班牙工廠的內(nèi)部物流中使用該技術(shù)。其他汽車制造商將在英國、芬蘭和德國推出該技術(shù)。

“Offering more autonomy and cognitive intelligence, ABB’s unique market-proven technology paves the way for a shift from linear production lines to dynamic networks. Intelligent AMRs autonomously navigate to production cells, tracking stock inventory as they go and sharing this information with other robots, while collaborating safely side-by-side with humans,” said Marc Segura, President of ABB’s Robotics Division. “With the acquisition of Sevensense, ABB becomes the leader in next-generation AMRs, offering Visual SLAM in Autonomous Mobile Robots, together with an integrated portfolio covering robots and machine automation solutions, all managed by our value-creating software.”

“ABB 獨特且經(jīng)過市場驗證的技術(shù)提供了更多自主權(quán)和認知智能，為從線性生產(chǎn)線向動態(tài)網(wǎng)絡的轉(zhuǎn)變鋪平了道路。智能 AMR 可自動導航到生產(chǎn)單元，跟蹤庫存并與其他機器人共享這些信息，同時與人類安全地并肩協(xié)作，”ABB 機器人部門總裁 Marc Segura 說道。“通過收購 Sevensense，ABB 成為下一代 AMR 領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)導者，在自主移動機器人中提供視覺 SLAM，以及涵蓋機器人和機器自動化解決方案的集成產(chǎn)品組合，所有這些都由我們的價值創(chuàng)造軟件進行管理。”

Gregory Hitz, CEO of Sevensense, said: “This is a significant moment in our shared journey, as we introduce our home-grown technology to a wider range of markets and sectors. ABB is the ideal home for us to continue scaling our versatile platform for 3D visual autonomy, serving OEMs across the automated material handling and service robotics industries. Together, we will redefine the limits of AI-enabled robotics.”

Sevensense首席執(zhí)行官Gregory Hitz表示：“這是我們共同旅程的一個重要時刻，我們將把自己的技術(shù)推廣到更廣泛的市場和行業(yè)。ABB 是我們繼續(xù)擴展 3D 視覺自主多功能平臺的理想家園，為自動化物料搬運和服務機器人行業(yè)的 OEM 提供服務。我們將共同重新定義人工智能機器人的極限。”

This revolutionary technology has the potential to impact robotics far beyond AMRs, leading to greater efficiency, flexibility and accuracy throughout production and intralogistics. The technology will also continue to be sold across segments including material handling, cleaning and other service robotics fields under the product name Sevensense.

這項革命性技術(shù)對機器人技術(shù)的影響可能遠遠超出 AMR，從而提高整個生產(chǎn)和內(nèi)部物流的效率、靈活性和準確性。該技術(shù)還將繼續(xù)以產(chǎn)品名稱 Sevensense 在物料搬運、清潔和其他服務機器人領(lǐng)域等領(lǐng)域進行銷售。

The Sevensense partnership highlights the success of ABB’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of innovations. Through its partner ecosystem and collaboration with start-ups and universities, ABB develops leading technology for the benefit of global businesses. Sevensense’s approximately 35 employees will continue to be based at its Swiss office in Zurich.

與 Sevensense 的合作彰顯了 ABB 致力于培養(yǎng)新一代創(chuàng)新的成功。通過其合作伙伴生態(tài)系統(tǒng)以及與初創(chuàng)企業(yè)和大學的合作，ABB開發(fā)領(lǐng)先的技術(shù)，造福全球企業(yè)。Sevensense的大約35名員工將繼續(xù)在蘇黎世瑞士辦公。