ExRobotics will start manufacturing robots for NAM to conduct inspection and maintenance in highly inflammable and explosive environments. The company recently opened a new production facility in Delft for the production and certification of these robots.

NAM is the launching customer of ExRobotics. The oil and gas company plans to start using the first batch of ten robots at the end of the year, and hopes to eventually deploy these machines in all of its unmanned installations. The robot has an integrated self-docking and self-charging system and a so-called IECEx Zone 1 certification, which means it can be deployed in inflammable environments.

Thanks to the robot, inspectors and operators no longer have to visit environments where there is a risk of explosions, greatly improving their work safety.

The NAM robot is operated by remote control, which was successfully tested earlier this year. ExRobots is in de process of developing an autonomous version of its robot. Last month, a successful test was being conducted at the Shell refinery in Pernis. This smart robot can create video and sound recordings that can be reviewed after the surveillance rounds.

The company expects to add a gas detector in the very near future followed by machine vision to analyse the recorded images, which enhances the prediction of emerging issues even better.

The new production facility is located close to Delft University of Technology and RoboValley. ExRobotics is looking forward to working together with these two partners. The company currently has 10 employees, but anticipates strong growth in the years ahead, representing a major boost to the regional robotics ecosystem.

Besides ExRobotics, there are only two other companies around that are certified to build these kinds of inspection robots.

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