Agility Robotics unveiled Digit 5 on September 15 — its first humanoid designed to work alongside people without physical barriers. The robot moves aside, stops or sits down on the floor when someone comes too close. Early access starts in the first half of 2027.
Key takeaways
- 1.81 m tall, 129 kg, payload up to 22.7 kg, reach of 2.2 m
- 90-minute battery, 9-minute charge — a 10:1 run-to-charge ratio
- Human-like legs on cycloidal actuators replace the backward-bending knees
- Independent safety controller and 360° people detection
- Early access in H1 2027, general availability at the end of 2027
The end of bird legs
Earlier Digits had knees that bent backwards, like an ostrich — a layout good for dynamic walking. The factory wanted something else: squats and lifting. So Digit 5 got human-like legs on proprietary cycloidal actuators. A cycloidal drive delivers high torque in a compact housing and tolerates shocks better than a harmonic drive.
The gripper changed too — a two-fingered parallel jaw with swappable ISO-standard mounting flanges. Jonathan Hurst, co-founder and Chief Robot Officer, attributes the change to product requirements: the emphasis moved to heavy lifting. No hand on the market can pick up 25-kg bins.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Height | 1.81 m |
| Weight | 129 kg |
| Payload | 22.7 kg, repeatedly |
| Lift reach | 2.2 m |
| Battery / charge | 90 min / 9 min |
| Gripper | two-fingered parallel jaw, ISO flanges |
Safety without a cage
Digit 5 runs 360-degree human detection all around it. It uses several sensor types and proprietary algorithms, and signals a detection visually and audibly. The key element is a separate, independent safety controller.
Peggy Johnson, CEO of Agility Robotics, frames this as removing a major barrier to scaling humanoids in industry. The company notes, however, that some safety features are still in development.
Economics and timing
The battery lasts 90 minutes and charges in 9. That ratio is where the claim of more than 20 hours of daily operation comes from:
Symbol meaning
- …
- minutes of operation on one charge
- …
- minutes to charge back to full
- …
- maximum operating time per day
The bill of materials currently runs $150,000–$200,000. At 10,000 units a year it is projected to fall below $50,000. The subscription model is priced at roughly $8,500 a month. Multi-year orders have passed $300 million, but that is fewer than a thousand machines. Amazon is named among deployments.
Why it matters
Humanoids in factories keep running into fences. A robot behind a barrier is no cheaper than an industrial arm. Digit 5 attacks exactly that problem — shifting the burden from fencing off to autonomous yielding. The scale stays tiny, though, and the gap between promise and income statement is enormous.
What's next?
- Early access starts in H1 2027 and full availability at the end of 2027 — North America first, then the EU and UK
- The merger with Churchill Capital Corp. XI is set to value the company at $2.5 billion
- Agility says it will carry CE marking for the EU and UK markets
Sources
- The Robot Report — Agility's Digit 5 humanoid has new legs, batteries, and safety upgrades
- IEEE Spectrum — Digit 5 May Be the First Humanoid Robot Worker That's Truly Safe
- Agility Robotics — Robots
