Rockwell Automation has acquired Canadian industrial robotics outfit Clearpath Robotics for an undisclosed fee. The deal includes the Ontario firm’s namesake research division, developing autonomous technology for the innovation market, as well as its industrial division OTTO Motors, which makes autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling inside manufacturing and warehouse facilities.
It means Rockwell Automation can offer “end-to-end autonomous production logistics solutions”, it said. The new units report to the Milwaukee firm’s intelligent devices division. Clearpath Robotics (now ‘… by Rockwell Automation’) provides hardware, software, and services for mobile robotics developers in the mining, military, agriculture, aerospace, and academic communities. OTTO Motors (now ‘… by Rockwell Automation’) makes AMRs for mission-critical Industry 4.0 operations.
In a statement, Rockwell Automation quoted Interact Analysis, that the market for AMRs in manufacturing will grow about 30 percent per year over the next five years, with an estimated market size of $6.2 billion by 2027. The acquisition should contribute a percentage point to its fiscal year 2024 revenue growth, it said. Both Clearpath Robotics and OTTO Motors have been singled out in industry reviews (by Robotics Business Review and Fast Company, respectively).
Blake Moret, chairman and chief executive at Rockwell Automation, said: “This acquisition marks a turning point for our customers around the world. Rockwell is simplifying and transforming the difficult yet critical function of material handling throughout the manufacturing plant with an end-to-end production logistics solution. Production logistics is key to optimising operations across an entire facility and bringing the connected enterprise to life.”
AMRs are the “next frontier in industrial automation”, said Rockwell Automation. In a supplied quote, Amar Mehta, a ‘leader’ in the manufacturing team at EY in the Americas, said: “Not only do AMRs connect islands of automation; they are one of the final major elements [for] manufacturers achieve autonomous production logistics… Rockwell is a leader in… hardware, software, and services… to integrate AMRs into a manufacturing plant. With this… it enhances its ability to take manufacturers on a full end-to-end digital transformation [of] their production environments.”
Rockwell Automation employs around 28,000 people in 100-odd countries. Clearpath Robotics works with 500 brands in 40 countries. OTTO Motors will be at its new parent’s Automation Fair in November in Boston.
