Agility Robotics Debuts Digit 5 for Warehouse Work Beside People

Agility Robotics has introduced Digit 5, a humanoid robot it says can operate alongside warehouse and factory workers without physical safety barriers. The bet is not merely that Digit can carry more or reach higher, but that it can share an aisle or a loading area by recognizing people and changing its movements around them.

That distinction addresses a practical constraint in industrial robotics. A robot assigned to a fixed, isolated task can be separated from people by cages or barriers. But Agility is aiming Digit 5 at jobs such as moving through shared aisles, stacking goods on pallets, and pausing while a worker changes a pallet—settings where a fence can get in the way of the work.

A robot that yields before it gets too close

According to Agility, Digit 5 uses AI algorithms and several vision-based sensors to identify people nearby. When it detects someone at a distance, the robot can move away or stop so that person can pass. At closer range, it can squat into a seated position. The company also says the machine provides visual and audio warnings.

This is a more graduated response than simply switching a machine off whenever a person enters its area. Agility chief technology officer Pras Velagapudi told Ars Technica that Digit 5’s motion system can choose among different safety measures based on the human presence it detects. The detailed sensor mix has not been disclosed.

The safety case is hardware, software and process

Digit 5 uses Nvidia’s Thor IGX hardware for onboard AI computing and integrates Nvidia Halos for Robotics, a software stack for robotics safety applications. Agility is also participating in an ISO working group developing ISO 25785-1, an industrial mobile-robot safety standard that was under committee review when the launch was reported.

Those pieces should not be confused with a completed industry-wide standard or with evidence from commercial Digit 5 deployments. The new model is scheduled for early customer access in the first half of 2027, followed by general availability by year-end, according to Agility.

Built for longer shifts and more varied handling

The rest of Digit 5’s redesign is meant to make that shared-space pitch useful across more assignments. Agility says the robot can repeatedly lift up to 50 pounds, reach as high as 7.2 feet, and accept swappable grippers or other end-effectors. Those interchangeable tools are intended to let it move bins, load machines, and handle different manipulation jobs without replacing the entire robot.

The operating targets Agility is putting forward

• A 90-minute battery that recharges in nine minutes.
• More than 20 hours of work in a 24-hour period, according to Agility.
• A 5-foot-11-inch body with a 7.2-foot reach.

A new deployment test, not a safety verdict

Agility is not starting from zero. Earlier Digit robots have accumulated more than 65,000 hours in warehouses and factories across North America, including work with GXO, Amazon, and Schaeffler. But those earlier operating hours do not establish how Digit 5’s new human-proximity behavior will perform in the varied layouts, foot traffic, and workflows of customer sites.

The launch therefore shifts the important question from whether Digit can perform a task behind a boundary to whether its sensing and motion choices are dependable enough for work around people. Agility’s 2027 customer deployments will be the first commercial measure of that claim.