So far, the humanoid robotics industry has been limited to promises and pilots. While these programs are crucial to the eventual deployment of new technology, they involve small numbers of robots and often do not lead to anything more meaningful. On Thursday, however, Agility announced it has entered into a formal agreement with logistics giant GXO following a successful pilot.
Digit’s first job will be to carry plastic totes around the Georgia Spanx factory – that’s definitely not a euphemism. Neither of the parties has revealed how many bipedal robots will pull boxes from the cobot and place them on the conveyor belt, which means the figure is still small. When we’re talking tens or hundreds of thousands, the parties involved will usually be eager to share that information.
The system is being leased as part of a RaaS (Robot-as-a-Service) model rather than purchased outright. This allows the client to avoid the hefty upfront cost of such a complex system, while still getting access to support and software updates.
GXO began testing Digit robots last year. The logistics firm also recently announced a pilot deal with one of Agility’s biggest competitors. ApatronicIt is not clear what effect one will have on the other.
Peggy Johnson, who stepped into the role of Agility’s CEO in March, has emphasized the company’s focus on ROI — a notable differentiator in a category where results are still largely theoretical.
“There will be many firsts in the humanoid robot market in the coming years, but I am extremely proud that Agility is the first company to have actual humanoid robots deployed on a customer site, generating revenue and solving real-world business problems,” said Johnson. “Agility has always been focused on the only metric that matters – delivering value to our customers by putting digits to work – and this milestone deployment raises the bar for the entire industry.”
Oregon-based Agility has been ahead of the rest of the market in terms of development and deployment, so it’s not surprising to see the company leading the way in achieving another important milestone. Of course, it’s still very early days for the industry and no clear market leader has emerged.
Amazon started a pilot project Agility Systems was installed in its warehouses last October, but neither company has made a formal announcement regarding next steps.
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