The humanoid robot Digit has secured its first official job, as Agility Robotics has signed a multi-year deal with GXO, the largest provider of contract logistics services in the world, to deploy humanoid robots in various logistics operations. Until now, the humanoid robotics industry has been filled with promises and experiments. Given its significance in the ultimate deployment of new technology, it involves a small number of robots and often does not lead to anything more substantial. Agility Robotics announced that it has reached an official agreement following a successful trial with the logistics giant GXO.
The first task for the humanoid robot Digit will be to transport plastic bags around the Spansks factory in Georgia. Neither party has specifically disclosed the number of humanoid robots that will transport and place the plastic bags on conveyor belts, which likely means the number is still small. When discussing tens or hundreds of thousands, involved parties are usually eager to share that information.
Agility Robotics leases the systems as part of a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) model, rather than selling them outright. This model allows the customer to defer the significant upfront costs of such a complex system while still accessing support and software updates. GXO began trialing the humanoid robot Digit last year. The logistics company previously announced a trial deal with Apptronik, a competitor of Agility Robotics.
Agility Robotics emphasized its focus on return on investment, stating: "We are proud to be the first company to deploy humanoid robots at a customer site, leading to revenue generation and solving real-world business problems." They added: "We have always focused on the one metric that matters, which is delivering value to customers through the operation of Digit, and this important deployment raises the level of the entire industry."
Agility Robotics is ahead of the rest of the market in terms of development and deployment, so it is not surprising to see them achieve this new major milestone first. Amazon began testing Agility Robotics' systems in its warehouses last October, without making an official announcement regarding next steps.
