ST Engineering acquires Aethon, maker of the TUG autonomous mobile vehicles

Singapore Technologies Engineering has acquired Aethon and its autonomous mobile robot, TUG, usually seen performing some logistical task or other. 

ST Engineering is a $5 billion engineering firm with global operations and strong expertise in mobile robotics.

The value of the deal was not made public.

Aethon will become a division of ST Engineering’s US headquarters, VT Systems and will be part of the group’s land systems sector which is led by ST Kinetics, which is focused on robot technology innovation. 

Aldo Zini, CEO of Aethon, says: “This acquisition is a terrific event for our company, employees and our customers since it provides Aethon with the resources and corporate backing to grow and develop new innovative robotic technology and more aggressively pursue new markets.

“We will now be able to expand our development capabilities to enhance our current technology and bring exciting logistics solutions to new vertical and global markets.”

ST Engineering purchased Aethon as a key piece of its growing robotics business. Aethon’s leadership team and employees will remain in place and the company will continue to operate out of its Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania location.

Khee Loon Foo, general manager, kinetics advanced robotics of ST Kinetics, says: “We evaluated the autonomous mobile robotics market thoroughly.

“Our evaluation led us to conclude that Aethon was the best company in this space having the right technology along with proven success in the commercialization and installation of autonomous mobile robots. We look forward to working with the Pittsburgh, PA team to grow the company.”