Agility's Digit 5 is built to work next to people — no fences

In short: Agility Robotics unveiled Digit 5 on Sept 15 as its first humanoid engineered for cooperatively safe work: operating close to people without the safety barriers traditional automation needs.

What's new

• Safe human detection: AI plus multiple sensors continuously watch for people; Digit avoids, stops or sits down.
• Safety cues: lights and sounds signal its intended motion.
• Safe motion control: an independent safety controller triggers the response when a person is too close. On Oct 1 Agility and FORT Robotics signed an MoU for an off-robot safety interface linking Digit to facility safety systems.
• Earlier Digits have logged 65,000+ hours at sites including Schaeffler and GXO.

The business

Agility reports $300M+ in multi-year orders for Digit 5, subject to contractual milestones. At its Oct 6 investor day (ahead of a $2.5B SPAC merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, ticker AGLT), COO Jen Hunter put Digit 5's bill of materials at about $150,000 at launch, targeting $30,000 at 10,000 units a year. Early access is due in H1 2027, general availability by end-2027, with EU and UK sales planned.

Why it matters

Fences are what keep most humanoid robots in pilots. Certified, cobot-style safety is the gate to real scale in warehouses.