Sick buys Dutch start-up specialising in AMR positioning
30 January 2025 
Image: Sick
The German sensor-maker Sick has acquired Accerion, a Dutch start-up specialising in AI-based image-processing technologies for locating and positioning AMRs (autonomous mobile robots) in manufacturing and logistics applications. Financial details of the acquisition have not been released.
Accerion, founded in 2015, has developed a camera- and software-based positioning technology called Triton, which it claims was the world’s first industrialised, infrastructure-free localisation technology for mobile robots. The optical technology uses the floor as a reference, achieving high accuracy without needing costly, inflexible field infrastructures.
Sick has been partnering with Accerion since 2021 to serve industrial customers requiring precise localisation, positioning and navigation of mobile robots.
Accerion’s technology and sales teams and its product portfolio have joined Sick. Product development by a newly-formed subsidiary, Sick Accerion, will continue in Venlo in the Netherlands.
“The market for sensor solutions for AMRs offers enormous growth potential, as the demands on industrial companies for an efficient supply chain in terms of throughput, availability, flexibility, and safety are steadily increasing,” says Dr Niels Syassen, Sick’s board member for technology and digitalisation. “To best support customers worldwide in their automation projects, we are further developing our own sensor solutions and investing in new technologies.”
“Triton delivers high-performance localisation for thousands of robots around the globe,” adds Accerion CEO, Vincent Burg. “Our close collaboration with Sick has shown how perfectly our products and cultures complement one another. We are thrilled to officially join the Sick family, where we can leverage this synergy to scale localisation solutions worldwide.”
The global market for AMRs is currently worth around €4bn and is expanding by more than 15% a year. Industrial companies, such as those in intralogistics and manufacturing, are increasingly relying on AMRs. It is essential that such robots can recognise their surroundings and people reliably. Technologies for navigation, localisation and positioning – such as those developed by Accerion – enable precise, safe movements of mobile robots in dynamic environments.
