ABB and LandingAI Pioneer Next-Generation Robotic Vision with Generative AI

Strategic Partnership Accelerates Industrial Automation

ABB Robotics has announced a strategic investment in LandingAI, a California-based visual AI specialist. This collaboration aims to transform robotic vision systems, making them more intuitive and accessible. Consequently, businesses can deploy advanced automation faster than ever before. This marks a significant step towards fully autonomous robots in industrial automation.

Addressing Critical Industry Challenges

The demand for flexible robotics is surging. According to a recent MarketsandMarkets report, the AI in robotics market is projected to reach $62.3 billion by 2028. Sami Atiya, President of ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation, states this partnership directly addresses key industry pain points: skills shortages and long commissioning cycles. Therefore, installation times can be reduced from weeks to just hours.

Investment Through ABB Robotics Ventures

ABB made this strategic move through its ABB Robotics Ventures unit. This team focuses on investing in innovative companies shaping the future of robotics and automation. While the financial details remain confidential, this investment aligns with ABB’s broader strategy. The parent fund, ABB Ventures, has invested around $500 million in relevant startups since 2009.

LandingLens: Democratizing Vision AI

LandingAI’s flagship product, LandingLens, is a core component of this collaboration. This platform simplifies training vision AI systems to identify objects and defects. Moreover, it requires no complex programming expertise. Users can rapidly deploy and, importantly, retrain the AI for new tasks independently.

Unlocking 80% Faster Deployment

The integration promises to slash robot vision AI training and deployment time by up to 80%. This efficiency gain is a game-changer for system integrators and end-users. As a result, they can achieve a new level of operational flexibility. This is crucial for scaling robot use in dynamic sectors like logistics and food and beverage.

Practical Applications in Factory Automation

• ABB is already piloting this technology in real-world applications. Key use cases include:

  Item-picking and sorting

  Depalletizing

  Quality inspection
  These applications are fundamental to modern control systems and factory automation workflows.

A Unique Integrated AI Offering

This collaboration makes ABB Robotics the first to offer a fully integrated AI training tool within its software suite. It will work seamlessly with ABB’s RobotStudio®, which features powerful digital twin capabilities. Therefore, commissioning becomes significantly simpler and more efficient.

Expert Commentary from World of PLC

At World of PLC, we recognize this partnership as a pivotal moment. The fusion of ABB’s robotic hardware with LandingAI’s accessible visual AI creates a powerful synergy. This development lowers the barrier to entry for sophisticated automation. We believe it will accelerate the adoption of PLC and DCS-controlled systems in small-to-midsize enterprises. For those looking to implement such advanced control systems, exploring the resources and solutions at World of PLC is a highly recommended first step.

Solution Scenario: Rapid Line Changeover

Challenge: A beverage company needs to quickly reconfigure its packaging line for different products.

Solution: Using the integrated ABB and LandingAI system, the vision AI is retrained in hours to recognize new bottle shapes and labels. The robots automatically adapt their picking and placing routines.

Outcome: The company achieves near-instantaneous line changeovers, maximizing uptime and responsiveness to market demands.