Agility Digit 5

What it's for

Digit 5 was created to do the same job as the v4, only harder and more safely, especially where humans and robots are meant to share space without a fence. The manufacturer announces new legs and batteries that raise payload by about 40% to 22.7 kg (50 lb) and vertical reach from 5.5 to 7.2 feet, or about 2.2 m. In practice that means the robot can reach a tote from mid-height on a shelf, not just from conveyor level.

Logistics and intralogistics. The main job is moving totes, picking up from the receiving area and feeding lines. Until now, people and robots working in the same aisle required barriers and exclusion zones. Agility announces a collaborative safety architecture meant to allow work beside people outside fenced areas. IEEE Spectrum wrote in September 2026 that Digit 5 may be the first humanoid worker safe enough to operate close to people. That is the editors' opinion, not a certification; certification and results from real halls are still to come.

Manufacturing. The higher payload opens the way to heavier bins and crates of components. Customers of the current Digit v4 fleet, Schaeffler and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, are natural candidates for an upgrade, although the manufacturer has not yet publicly confirmed who will get early access.

Working a shift. The energy trade-off is interesting: a single run lasts only 1.5 hours, but charging takes 90 minutes at a declared charge-to-work ratio of 10:1, which should give up to 20 hours of operation a day with a suitable recharging schedule. For a planner that is entirely different arithmetic from a classic robot: what counts is rhythm, not a single battery.

For now, though, this is a pilot and an announcement: early access is planned for the first half of 2027 and general availability for the end of 2027. Context for warehouse applications: “Warehouse and logistics” and “Agility Digit in Warehouses”; for factories: factories.

Who it's for

Who it is for. Companies already in talks with Agility or with Digit v4 experience that are planning a fleet for 2027–2028. Plants where the higher payload (22.7 kg) and greater reach genuinely change the economics of a task, for example totes placed on higher shelves. Safety and health-and-safety departments that want to learn early about a humanoid's collaborative working architecture.

Who it is not for. Anyone who needs a robot now: Digit 5 is in the pilot phase, the price has not been published (a subscription model is expected, as with the v4) and the robot is not available in Poland. Nor is it a choice for small firms or for tasks that require precise hands.

Practical advice: if you are planning automation in the next few months, do not wait for this robot. Use proven solutions and treat Digit 5 as a scenario for the next investment cycle. How to judge manufacturers' claims is described in “How to Read a Robot Datasheet”, and the humanoid market in the context of forecasts in “Humanoid Robot Market Forecasts”.

Deployments

There are no Digit 5 deployments yet. It is a pilot-stage model, and early access is due to start in the first half of 2027. The deployments belong to its predecessor: Amazon, GXO Logistics, Schaeffler, Mercado Libre and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (see Agility Digit). The robot is not available in Poland. In the category of humanoids in logistics, Agility is furthest along, while competitors such as Apptronik Apollo and Figure 02 are today in pilots at industrial groups. The current state of the market: “Humanoid Robots in Factories 2026”.

• Agility Digit is the previous generation, available today under RaaS, with documented work at Amazon, GXO and Toyota. Lower payload (15.9 kg), but real references.
• Apptronik Apollo has a 25 kg payload and a swappable battery, with pilots at Mercedes and GXO. Close in parameters, though it bets on modularity rather than tote logistics.
• Atlas: we prepared the comparison with Atlas as a pair, logistics versus industrial research. Atlas aims at harder tasks, at the expense of ease of deployment.
• Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is a general-purpose announcement. Digit 5 is specialized, while Optimus has only promises so far.
• Figure 02 is the humanoid known from the BMW plant, with more in common with car production than with a warehouse.

You can also find comparisons in the humanoid robots category.

Digit 5 is the fifth generation of the platform developed by Agility Robotics, a company from Salem, Oregon, founded in 2015, which in March 2026 shortened its name to “Agility”. Its predecessor, Digit v4, has operated commercially since 2023; in December 2023 the company launched RoboFab, its humanoid factory. Digit 5 was shown in September 2026 as a model for industrial use, designed for work close to people. Early access is planned for the first half of 2027 and general availability for the end of 2027. The most significant step is not the payload numbers but the change in safety philosophy: from a robot behind a barrier to a robot in the same aisle as a human.