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There are many questions on humanoid robots as they begin to make their method into business markets. Whereas the “wheels versus legs” debate is the go-to subject, questions in regards to the enterprise mannequin — price, ROI, and so forth. — are additionally high of thoughts. Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson gave us a fast peek behind the scenes for Digit whereas talking at a tech convention this week.
Agility Robotics lately landed the primary paying buyer for its Digit humanoid, which gained The Robotic Report‘s inaugural RBR50 Robotic of the Yr Award earlier in 2024.
A “small fleet” of Digit humanoids is at present deployed at a Spanx facility in Flowery Department, Georgia. Digit picks up totes from 6 River Programs‘ Chuck autonomous cellular robots (AMRs) and locations the totes onto conveyors. Digit can decide up empty or totes filled with the ladies’s shapewear product. It may possibly additionally decide up totes from both the underside or high shelf of an AMR.
All of this work is orchestrated by way of Agility Arc, the corporate’s cloud automation platform for deploying and managing Digit fleets. The robots are deployed beneath a robots-as-a-service mannequin (RaaS), that means Agility Robotics began incomes a small quantity of income for Digit. This was a significant milestone for a humanoid firm.
Many people throughout the robotics trade have been left wanting extra data, nonetheless, significantly round the associated fee. And that’s the place Johnson’s feedback assist shed some gentle. She stated Agility Robotics is at present charging a “absolutely loaded $30 per hour” for its Digit humanoid. She stated the return on funding (ROI) for patrons is beneath two years.
That cost-per-hour determine for the humanoid, all equipment, and upkeep appears cheap. Now, it’s unlikely that Digit is working 24 hours a day, 12 months a 12 months, however let’s faux it’s for argument’s sake. The maths comes out to $125,000 over two years per robotic. These figures could be completely different with a traditional eight-hour shift, in fact.
GXO signed a multi-year take care of Agility Robotics to deploy its Digit humanoid in warehouses. | Credit score: Agility Robotics
Subsequent technology of Digit coming quickly
Agility Robotics stated the battery life for Digit is at present as much as eight hours, relying on utilization. That is one other vital level Johnson mentioned on stage. She defined that the corporate is at a 2-to-1 ratio for Digit, that means clients get two items of working time whereas one other unit is charging.
Johnson added that the subsequent technology of Digit can be launched this fall. Its lifting capability will enhance from 35 to 50 lb. (15.8 to 22.6 kg), battery life can be improved, and extra items of Digit can be accessible, she stated. That 2-to-1 ratio can be regularly elevated to 4-to-1 and doubtlessly 10-to-1 to enhance a buyer’s ROI.
As the price of elements reminiscent of batteries declines and {hardware} deployments scale, that ROI must be quicker and simpler to acquire.
Amazon has additionally examined Digit and invested in Agility Robotics. Nevertheless, the main points of that relationship and of Amazon’s checks of Digit have been unclear at press time.
Humanoids don’t collaborate with people — but
Johnson, who was named CEO of Agility Robotics in March 2024, additionally talked briefly about working close to people. There aren’t any security requirements for humanoids, though there are numerous efforts beneath method to rectify that.
On the Spanx facility, Digit isn’t at present working close to people. The robotic is 5 ft., 9 in. (5.7 m) tall and weighs 140 lb. (63.5 kg).
However Johnson stated Digit is “on a path to what’s known as practical security” and that it may “interoperate close to people” within the subsequent 18 months or so. If that pans out, it might be one more vital milestone for humanoids, of which there are a rising quantity nowadays.
Boston Dynamics, Determine, Fourier Intelligence, Persona AI, Sanctuary, Tesla, and Unitree are just some of the opposite firms additionally engaged on business humanoids.
Agility Robotics continues fundraising
Lastly, Johnson additionally stated Agility Robotics is at present elevating its Sequence C spherical. She stated that can “take us out the subsequent couple of years till we hit that 10,000 unit [mark].” The corporate anticipates the manufacturing capability for Digit can be greater than 10,000 per 12 months at its new RoboFab manufacturing facility in Oregon.
Agility Robotics final raised a $150 million Sequence B spherical in early 2022. Extra lately, Determine raised $675 million to develop its personal humanoids, that are behind Digit at this level. Whereas that would actually change, it’ll be fascinating to see how a lot a humanoid firm with precise robots within the area can increase from traders.
“Proper now, humanoid robots are having a second, for positive,” stated Johnson.