ABB Research

ABB Research
Name	ABB Research
Type	Research and development division
Industry	Automation, Power, Robotics
Founded	1940s
Headquarters	Zürich, Switzerland
Area served	Global
Key people	Ulrich Spiesshofer, Björn Rosengren, Peter Voser
Products	Industrial robots, power grids, electrification systems
Parent	ABB

ABB Research ABB Research is the central research and development arm of a multinational engineering company focused on electric power and industrial automation. It operates within a network of corporate laboratories and innovation centers spanning Europe, North America, and Asia, aligning with strategic initiatives in energy transition, Industry 4.0, and sustainable development. The organization bridges basic science and applied engineering, working with universities, startups, and industrial partners to move technologies from lab prototypes to commercial systems.

History

Founded amid mid-20th-century electrification efforts, the research organization grew alongside major industrial players such as ASEA and Brown, Boveri & Cie prior to the 1988 merger that formed the modern parent company. During the late 20th century the labs expanded research ties to institutions like ETH Zurich, Imperial College London, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while contributing to projects associated with European Union technology programs and Horizon 2020-era consortia. In the 2000s it shifted emphasis toward power-grid digitalization, collaborating with entities such as Siemens, General Electric, and national transmission operators including National Grid and TenneT. Recent decades saw investment aligned with corporate leadership under executives from firms like ABB Group and strategic pivots influenced by geopolitical events involving markets in China, India, United States, and Brazil.

Research Areas and Technologies

Research themes encompass electric power networks, robotics, automation software, and digital services intersecting with entities like Schneider Electric, Rockwell Automation, and Bosch. Work on high-voltage direct current links engages standards communities and organizations such as CIGRE and IEC. Robotics labs pursue manipulator design, control theory, and human–robot collaboration, intersecting with research at Carnegie Mellon University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Delft University of Technology. Control systems and motion planning research reference algorithms used by teams at Google DeepMind, NVIDIA, and MIT CSAIL. Power electronics and semiconductors projects relate to suppliers like Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics. Cybersecurity efforts coordinate with ENISA and national CERTs while integrating protocols such as those advanced by IEEE. Energy storage and grid integration work aligns with developer partners like Tesla, Inc. and research hubs including Fraunhofer Society and Paul Scherrer Institute.

Organizational Structure and Facilities

The research division is organized into thematic units mirroring corporate business areas: Electrification, Motion, Robotics & Discrete Automation, and Grid Automation, with cross-cutting teams in AI, materials science, and cybersecurity. Its governance model interfaces with boards akin to European Investment Bank advisory structures and corporate governance frameworks influenced by boards chaired by figures from Ericsson and ABB. Major facilities include technology centers in Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, the United States, China, and India, located near universities such as University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, Uppsala University, and Tsinghua University. Pilot plants, hardware-in-the-loop labs, and robotic testbeds are comparable to infrastructure used by Toyota Research Institute and Honda Research Institute. Incubation programs link to accelerators resembling Startupbootcamp and Plug and Play Tech Center.

Notable Projects and Innovations

Noteworthy outcomes include developments in HVDC converter topologies related to projects like NordLink and North Sea Link, contributions to modular substations similar to initiatives by ABB Group peers, and advances in collaborative robots paralleling innovations at Universal Robots and KUKA. The research teams helped commercialize distributed control systems integrated into offerings competing with Siemens PCS7 and Rockwell Automation PlantPAx. Breakthroughs in condition monitoring and predictive maintenance leverage digital twins and machine learning techniques used by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. In materials and power-electronics, work on wide-bandgap semiconductors echoes research at Cree, Inc. and ON Semiconductor. Safety frameworks and functional-safety contributions engage standards like ISO 13849 and IEC 61508.

Collaborations and Partnerships

The research organization maintains formal collaborations with universities and labs including ETH Zurich, Chalmers University of Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Tsinghua University, Purdue University, and Nanyang Technological University. It participates in consortia funded by the European Commission and partners with industrial firms such as Siemens, General Electric, Schneider Electric, ABB Group competitors in cooperative projects, and suppliers like ABB Robotics ecosystem members. Public–private partnerships involve transmission system operators like TenneT and utility-scale integrators such as E.ON. Venture investments and joint projects connect to corporate venture arms resembling ABB Technology Ventures collaborations with firms akin to Breakthrough Energy Ventures and regional incubators including CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center).

Impact and Commercialization

Technologies incubated in the research division have been deployed in utility grids, manufacturing plants, and logistics hubs, influencing standards-adoption cycles similar to those led by IEEE Standards Association and IEC. Commercial products have been integrated into markets alongside offerings from Siemens Energy, Schneider Electric, and General Electric Grid Solutions, enabling energy-efficiency improvements and productivity gains cited in case studies by McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group. The organization’s patents and spin-outs interact with intellectual-property regimes overseen by offices like the European Patent Office and United States Patent and Trademark Office, while workforce development initiatives align with programs at ILO and regional technical colleges.

Category:Research institutes