Agility Robotics revealed Digit 5, its newest humanoid robot built to work alongside people. Unlike older factory automation with protective barriers, Digit 5 reportedly operates safely in open factory and warehouse environments alongside human staff.

“Digit 5 is removing a major barrier to scaling humanoid robots in industrial environments,” said Peggy Johnson, CEO of Agility Robotics. “We built it to the exact requirements our customers gave us after three years of Digit 4 working on their production floors.”

A New Digit Humanoid Robot

The Digit 5 humanoid robot worker; Photo: Agility Robotics

Safety is the most important factor, but it’s often a big obstacle for industrial robots.

According to Agility, Digit 5 uses sensors and AI algorithms that track nearby workers continuously, eliminating any potential safety hazard with other employees. For example, if someone walks too close, the robot automatically avoids them, stops, or assumes a seated position. It also uses visual and audio cues to show nearby staff what it plans to do next.

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Agility partnered with NVIDIA to build this safety setup using NVIDIA IGX Thor and the Halos framework.

“Safely operating around people and assets is what moves humanoid robots from pilots to industrial deployments at scale,” said Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA. “Agility’s Digit 5 is building on more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation and pairing its new safety architecture developed on top of NVIDIA IGX Thor and Halos safety framework for Robotics to help humanoids collaborate safely in factories and warehouses.”

Faster Charging

Agility also upgraded the hardware based on three years of customer feedback. Digit 5 stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 284 pounds, and reaches up to 7.2 feet high. Its new leg design lets it repeatedly lift 50-pound loads, making it suitable for single-person lift jobs in regulated facilities.

Additionally, a new battery takes only 9 minutes to charge and allows Digit to work for 90 minutes, allowing for over 20 hours of work in a 24-hour day. Swappable tools on its arms also let it switch tasks easily between handling totes and tending machines.

Digit 4 logged over 65,000 operational hours at places like Amazon, Toyota, and GXO, where it hit a 100,000-tote milestone with 98% accuracy. Now, with over $300 million in customer orders, Digit 5 is moving into full-scale deployments.