Agility Robotics, creator of the humanoid robot Digit, has unveiled new capabilities and advancements that expand the work Digit is able to perform for Agility’s growing customer base.
These innovations were unveiled recently at the manufacturing and supply chain industry’s premier global event, ProMat.
Designed in close collaboration with customers, these new features support the rapid and scaled deployment of Digit fleets, and include:
- Expanded battery capabilities which run more efficiently and last up to four hours
- Autonomous docking onto charging station
- Streamlined manufacturing of Digit
- Additional safety features such as a Category 1 (CAT1) stop, a Safety PLC, an on-robot E-stop, wireless teach pendant with integrated E-stop, and Functional Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE)
- New robust limbs and end effectors, giving Digit a wider range of grasping angles and unlocking new use cases with expanded possibilities for manipulation
Melonee Wise, chief product officer at Agility Robotics, says: “These upgrades allow Agility to expand Digit’s capabilities to meet our expanding commercial and customer needs.
“Together, they reinforce our commitment to cooperative safety, and demonstrate a path for Digit and human colleagues to one day work side by side.”
The path to widespread adoption for humanoids is paved by real-world deployments. Agility Robotics leads the industry with the first and only commercially-deployed humanoid in warehouses and manufacturing facilities.
This unique position allows Agility to collaborate closely with customers – testing, deploying, building skills, and measuring the true value of these robots in real-world applications.
AMR integration
Humanoid robots should be designed to work alongside Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), not replace them, and Digit is no exception.
Humanoids and AMRs have complementary strengths. Humanoids excel at complex manipulation, grasping, and navigating human-centric spaces, while AMRs are masters of efficient transportation over longer distances.
Digit can autonomously dispatch an AMR to deliver items to their next location, such as packout stations. This level of autonomy reduces the need for constant human intervention, allowing workers to focus on more complex tasks. It further maximizes the efficiency of people, existing automation as well as the fleet of humanoids.
As warehouse technology has evolved, AMRs have become one of the fastest adopted automation systems in warehouse and manufacturing facilities, but have created islands of automation.
The ability for humanoids to integrate with other systems becomes more critical than ever. Digit, the industry’s only commercially deployed humanoid, now is successfully working with leading AMR companies.
Agility’s Arc cloud robotic platform now can deploy and talk with AMRs and their corresponding platforms by calling and dispatching AMRs to the task at hand. Digit already has been working alongside AMRs at the Digit deployment for GXO near Atlanta, Georgia.
Agility’s integration with AMRs from MiR and Zebra Technologies was on full display at the ProMat trade show in Chicago, Illinois earlier in March.
Safety
Standards exist for machine and robot safety, but safety standards for Dynamically Stable Industrial Mobile Robots such as Digit that require stability and balancing are in the development stage.
Agility is committed to pushing the industry forward with cooperative safety applications to meet the standards of OSHA-regulated environments necessary for humanoids to work alongside humans.
Digit’s latest version has new safety features that adhere to safety standards for industrial mobile robots, and represent a significant advancement toward deploying cooperative safety applications.
- Digit’s enhanced user interface now features at-a-glance, front and back displays that help monitor Wi-Fi status, connectivity, connection to Agility Arc, battery levels and maintenance ports, making it easier than ever to monitor and manage the robot.
- New safety features including:
- – A Category 1, or CAT1 stop, involves maintaining power to the machine actuators during the deceleration process, allowing the machine to stop smoothly and safely, before removing power.
- – Safety PLC, also known as a safety programmable logic controller, is used on robots to provide safety functions that meet performance level d (PLd).
- – An E-stop (emergency stop) button on a robot is a safety feature designed to immediately halt all robot movements and operations in case of an emergency. Its main purposes include preventing accidents, ensuring worker safety, complying with safety regulations, protecting equipment, providing quick response control, and more
- – FSoE (FailSafe over EtherCAT) is a safety protocol used in robotics and industrial automation to ensure safe communication between devices over an EtherCAT network. It enables the transmission of safety-critical data, such as emergency stop signals and sensor feedback, while also maintaining real-time performance.
- Commitment to safety and step towards a cooperatively safe humanoid applications with additional and continued compliance with multiple standards
Agility Arc
Agility Arc is the cloud-based automation platform that gives customers complete control of their fleet of robots and equipment by deploying and fully integrating a wide range of automated workflows into their logistics and manufacturing operations.
Agility Arc is the first humanoid fleet management system to successfully integrate and deploy humanoid robots in a commercial environment. One of the newest and most exciting features is integration with AMRs.
Digit now successfully integrates with industry-leading AMR companies such as MiR and Zebra Robotics, allowing customers to use Agility Arc to deploy and talk with AMRs and their corresponding platforms. Other new Agility Arc features include:
- Digit support
- Charger support
- Workcell EMS support
- Easy webhook integration
- Remote monitor, support, and maintenance of Digit and all accessories
- Continued and expanded Enterprise Systems Integration (MES, WMS, WES, PLC)
New use cases
On the ProMat show floor, Digit also demonstrated new use cases – including those integrated with AMRs – such as stacking and unstacking of totes, G2P or Unit Sorter, AMR loading and unloading, palletizing and depalletizing, nesting, flowrack and carts, and automated putwall.
