ABB and ETH step up robotics research

The leading global technology company ABB and ETH Zurich are bringing their long-standing interdisciplinary cooperation in the area of robotics research to the next level. ABB has now donated a sum of 2.5 million Swiss francs to ETH that will be directed towards the industrial partnership program RobotX. Within the framework of this collaboration, ABB will bring its expertise in the field of robotics to the table. As ABB writes in a press release, this expertise will be bundled “into a platform aimed at training new talent and attracting worldwide experts”. This will consequently allow a series of future technologies, including robotics, to be further developed and fine-tuned.

ETH Zurich and ABB Robotis  have been working together since 2014. The joint research has led to the creation of the world’s first laboratory for collaborative robotic digital production in architecture, which is based at the ETH Institute of Technology in Architecture. Both ETH Zurich and ABB are also project partners alongside the vertical mobility solutions manufacturer Schindler. This project is centered on the development of an automated installation system for elevators that operates on an autonomous basis.

“Our partnership expands our global innovation ecosystem”, explains Sami Atiya, President ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation, in the press release. The aim here is to “advance the future of robotics and unlock the potential of automation for our customers”.

Prof. Dr. Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, described a tight-knit collaboration between ETH and industrial partners such as ABB Robotics as “essential” in order to establish Switzerland as a leading research location in the field of robotics. RobotX facilitates interdisciplinary research at ETH in addition to driving “new ways of collaboration with an industry affiliation program, open lab space and sabbatical programs”, Mesot explains in the press release.