ANYbotics Advances Academic Robotics with Launch of Manipulation Payload at ICRA 2025
Atlanta, GA – May 2025 – During the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025) in Atlanta, ANYbotics comforted its position as a global leader in research-driven robotics innovation by hosting the second edition of the ANYmal Research Meetup. This high-level academic forum brought together top-tier robotics minds to exchange ideas, showcase breakthroughs, and strengthen collaboration among top academic institutions. The event also marked a major milestone with the official launch of the ANYmal Research Manipulation Payload—a cutting-edge system developed in collaboration with Duatic, an ETH Zurich spin-off.
A Global Gathering of Robotics Researchers
Building on the momentum from the first edition in Japan, the 2025 meetup gathered more than 60 elite researchers from leading robotics research institutions worldwide. Participants shared advances in mobile robotics, from foundational research to real-world deployment. The meetup provided a platform for exchanging ideas, presenting ongoing projects, and fostering future collaborations.
Major Milestone: Launch of the ANYmal Research Manipulation Payload
The new payload is a full-featured mobile manipulation system tailored for academic research. Developed in close collaboration with Duatic, an ETH Zurich spin-off specializing in advanced robotic manipulation, the payload includes a powerful and torque-controlled arm. It provides a flexible sensor integration and an open software architecture that gives researchers full access to low-level joint control. The system is equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson GPU, enabling onboard execution of advanced AI models and real-time perception algorithms. This integrated platform enables advanced mobile manipulation, such as agile tool use, object handling, and real-time interaction in unstructured environments. It supports human–robot collaboration, heavy payload handling, and complex tasks, marking a breakthrough in intelligent, autonomous legged robotics.
This manipulation payload brings unique capabilities to ANYmal. It enables us to conduct cutting-edge research in dynamic mobile manipulation with the precision, robustness, and openness we need to develop the next generation of autonomous systems. – Marco Hutter, Professor at ETH Zurich.
ANYbotics powers Academic Innovation in Mobile Robotics
ANYbotics emphasized its commitment to providing high-performance platforms that empower the academic community.
With this new manipulation payload, we enable researchers to push the boundaries of mobile manipulation. Collaboration with leading academic institutions is key to advancing robotics, and we’re proud to provide the most comprehensive legged robotics research package to make this progress possible. – Péter Fankhauser, Co-founder and CEO of ANYbotics.
A Research Milestone with Global Reach
The ANYmal Research Meetup at ICRA 2025 reinforced ANYbotics’ role as a key partner for academic labs in shaping the future of robotics. Researchers interested in joining the ANYmal Research Community and accessing the new manipulation capabilities are encouraged to reach out via the ANYbotics website.