Agility Robotics just pulled the curtain back on Digit 5, and the headline feature isn’t just raw power—it’s proximity. This new humanoid can operate alongside human workers without the bulky safety fences that usually cordon off industrial automation. Using a mix of AI-driven vision and sensors, the robot detects people in its vicinity and either halts or steps aside, broadcasting visual and audio warnings to keep everyone aware. It’s a significant shift from the isolated cages of traditional factory bots, signaling a move toward true collaborative robotics in dense warehouse environments.
The hardware upgrades are equally notable. Digit 5 lifts 22.7 kg, a 40 percent jump over the previous model, and features swappable grippers for versatile tasks like bin moving or machine loading. Perhaps more impressive is the power management: a nine-minute charge yields 90 minutes of runtime. Agility claims this rapid turnover enables over 20 hours of continuous work per day, effectively solving the downtime headache that plagues many electric autonomous systems. Standing 1.81 meters tall and weighing 129 kg, it’s built for endurance as much as strength.
This launch isn’t happening in a vacuum. Agility is the first partner for Nvidia’s Halos safety platform, integrating specialized software to manage these close-quarters interactions. The company leans heavily on its track record with Digit 4, which logged over 65,000 hours with major clients like Amazon and GXO. At GXO alone, the predecessor moved roughly 100,000 bins with 98 percent accuracy. With orders already exceeding $300 million and a Salem, Oregon factory capable of producing 10,000 units annually, the scale is real. First deliveries are set for early 2027, including expansions into the EU market.
While the 2027 delivery date feels distant, the technical leap in battery efficiency and safety integration suggests Agility is solving the practical barriers to adoption rather than just demoing concepts. The ability to swap grippers and charge in under ten minutes addresses the two biggest operational bottlenecks in logistics automation. If they can maintain that 98 percent accuracy at scale without safety barriers, the layout of future warehouses may look less like a factory floor and more like a busy human office.
