Company
Inspection Robotics
Swiss industrial inspection robotics company and a spin-off from the ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab, founded in 2006 as a joint venture with ALSTOM Power…
- Founded
- 2006
- HQ
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Status
- active
Models
1
Overview
Swiss industrial inspection robotics company and a spin-off from the ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab, founded in 2006 as a joint venture with ALSTOM Power Service. Now operating as Waygate Technologies Robotics, a unit of Baker Hughes, it builds magnetic-wheeled climbing robots such as the BIKE platform for inspecting power plants, oil and gas facilities, and other large-scale industrial assets. Baker Hughes announced the sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon for approximately $1.45 billion in April 2026.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
DEPLOY Intelligence
Market intelligence for physical AI
Analyst-grade signals, competitive tracking, and investment context across the global physical AI landscape. Launching 2026.
Key facts
HQ
Zurich, Switzerland
Focus
Automated inspection for wind turbines, blades, and towers
Robot
Climbing and aerial inspection robots
Founder
Alexander Schlaepfer
Parent
Baker Hughes (Waygate Technologies)
Former names
ALSTOM Inspection Robotics (2006-2015), GE Inspection Robotics (2015-2020)
Key product
BIKE (magnetic-wheeled climbing inspection robot)
Key technology
3D LOC (spatial awareness and digital twin integration)
Origin
ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab spin-off
2026 divestiture
Baker Hughes announced sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon for ~$1.45B (April 2026)
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Current leadership (1)
- Alexander Schlaepfer Founderreported, not verified
Founders (1)
- Alexander Schlaepfercofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Inspection Robotics.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Inspection Robotics in third-party press
Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- ATI Industrial Automation2 models
- August Robotics2 models
- Embodied2 models
- EverestLabs2 models
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Sources (1)
Common questions
- What is Inspection Robotics?
- Swiss industrial inspection robotics company and a spin-off from the ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab, founded in 2006 as a joint venture with ALSTOM Power Service. Now operating as Waygate Technologies Robotics, a unit of Baker Hughes, it builds magnetic-wheeled climbing robots such as the BIKE platform for inspecting power plants, oil and gas facilities, and other large-scale industrial assets. Baker Hughes announced the sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon for approximately $1.45 billion in April 2026.
- What does Inspection Robotics make?
- Inspection Robotics has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: BIKE (Inspection Robotics builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Who competes with Inspection Robotics?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Inspection Robotics building in the same form factors include DJI, Boston Dynamics, ATI Industrial Automation, August Robotics.
- Where is Inspection Robotics headquartered?
- Inspection Robotics is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
- Where does Inspection Robotics operate robots?
- Inspection Robotics is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Inspection Robotics a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Inspection Robotics ranks in roughly the top 49% of companies tracked by the registry.
- Is Inspection Robotics safe?
- Inspection Robotics has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-06
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-06
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Inspection Robotics.Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- ATI Industrial Automation2 models
- August Robotics2 models
- Embodied2 models
- EverestLabs2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Inspection Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Baker Hughes to sell Waygate unit to Hexagon for about $1.45 billion
Baker Hughes announced the sale of its Waygate Technologies business (which includes Inspection Robotics) to Sweden-based Hexagon for approximately $1.45 billion in cash, marking…
Baker Hughes Announces Sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon
Official Baker Hughes press release announcing the all-cash sale of Waygate Technologies to Hexagon for approximately $1.45 billion, divesting the inspection technology unit that…
GE Inspection Robotics - Crunchbase Company Profile
Crunchbase company profile confirming GE Inspection Robotics is based in Zurich, founded by Alexander Schlaepfer, with 51-100 employees, operating in oil and gas and robotics.
GE Inspection Robotics (Waygate Technologies Robotics WTR) - DevelopmentAid profile
DevelopmentAid profile confirming the company's founding as ALSTOM Inspection Robotics in 2006, transition to GE in 2015, and acquisition by Waygate Technologies (Baker Hughes) in…
Waygate Technologies Robotics - Robotic technology for accelerators (CERN presentation)
CERN presentation detailing the company's history from ALSTOM Inspection Robotics (2006) through GE Inspection Robotics (2016) to Waygate Technologies Robotics (2020), and its…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/inspection-robotics.md
- RSS feed: /companies/inspection-robotics/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/86677bf0-81ac-455c-b63d-3e4ef347f3b9
- Revision history: /companies/inspection-robotics/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- ATI Industrial Automation2 models
- August Robotics2 models
- Embodied2 models
- EverestLabs2 models
Video
The industry standard for dangerous and routine autonomous inspections just got better, now with a brand new set of features and hardware.
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This incredible robot is designed to inspect underground pipes with its high-resolution camera, detecting cracks, blockages, and even unexpected surprises! Cont
Our tethered RMIS Maxi inspection crawler moves effortlessly up an incline, extended to the pipe interior diameter and with excellent grip. Ryonic Modular Inspe
Learn more about Solomon: https://www.solomon-3d.com/ Follow us: LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/solomon3d/ Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/so
This video describes some of the features of the Minibot line of Inspection Robots offered by Inspectorbots. It shows the bots in action and describes the diffe
Introduction to HEBI's Robotics line of modular mobile bases for confined spaces, dirty environments, and magnetic crawling. HEBI continues to push the envelop
The UplinkRobotics Wombat is a remote-controlled inspection crawler designed for professional use in crawlspaces, ductwork, and other confined areas where manua
For more information, please visit our website *https://www.shenhaorobotics.com* You can also send email to *international@shenhaoinfo.com* We look forward hear
For more information, please visit our website *https://www.shenhaorobotics.com* You can also send email to *international@shenhaoinfo.com* We look forward hear
UplinkRobotics Marten V1.3 – A Focus Built Inspection Crawler for Inspectors To learn more or purchase the crawler, visit: https://uplinkroboticsstore.com/prod
A robotic vision inspection cell used to check for the presence of flash on injection molded medical components. The cell uses a Mitsubishi robot and PLC along
Reality vs attention
Inspection Robotics draws attention at the 82nd percentile but verifies reality at the insufficient-data level among other robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 14, 2026