Agility Robotics has introduced Digit 5 with redesigned legs, a faster-charging battery and a new safety-control stack. A limited early release is planned for January through June 2027, followed by broader availability to factory and logistics operators before 2028.

That timing matters when reading the specifications below: they describe the announced model and Agility's plans, not a robot that is already generally available.

New legs, payload and reach

Digit 5 replaces the backward-bending legs used by earlier versions with a more conventional, human-scale layout. Agility rates the new actuators for repeated lifts of 22.7 kg (50 lb) and describes that as a payload increase of about 40% over the previous model.

The announced robot weighs 284 lb (129 kg). It is 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) tall and has a maximum reach of 2.2 m (7.2 ft). Its knees include padding for kneeling. The leg design also lets Digit move into a stable seated posture and shut off its motors before a person touches it, according to Agility co-founder Jonathan Hurst.

Agility has retained a two-finger gripper rather than presenting a human-like hand as a general-purpose solution. Digit 5 uses swappable grippers with ISO-standard mounting flanges, allowing an operator to fit an end-effector for a particular job.

Nine-minute charging and the runtime claim

Agility specifies a 90-minute operating period and a nine-minute full charge. That produces a 10-to-1 run-to-charge ratio, compared with 2-to-1 for Digit 4. On that basis, the company says Digit 5 can work for more than 20 hours within a 24-hour day.

The distinction is important: 90 minutes is the stated runtime per charge, while the 20-hour figure depends on repeated autonomous charging across the day.

What the safety architecture is designed to do

Agility says Digit 5 can operate near people without the physical barriers commonly used around industrial robots. Its announced design combines multiple sensors with proprietary AI software to monitor for people around the robot. Depending on proximity, the system can avoid a person, stop or move into a seated position.

Visual and audible signals are intended to show the robot's motion intent. A separate safety controller oversees the response when a person is detected at an unsafe distance. Agility describes this architecture as reducing dependence on protective barriers; that is a design claim from the manufacturer.

The company also describes an earlier Digit's customer-site safety evaluation as an independent first for a humanoid, measured against industrial standards overseen by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Agility is separately helping develop ANSI/A3 TR R15.108 for dynamically stable industrial mobile robots and ISO 25785-1 for humanoid safety.

Orders, pricing inputs and the 2027 plan

Agility chief executive Peggy Johnson put the value of multi-year Digit 5 orders above $300 million. IEEE Spectrum reported that the total represented fewer than 1,000 robots as of May 2026. The Robot Report, citing SEC filings, reported $1.8 million in Agility net sales for 2025 and a $2.5 billion valuation in the proposed merger with Churchill Capital Corp. XI.

The company's 70,000-square-foot RoboFab facility in Salem, Oregon, was designed for annual capacity of up to 10,000 Digit robots. IEEE Spectrum reported an expected bill-of-materials cost of $150,000 to $200,000 at launch. It also reported Agility's projection that the parts cost could fall below $50,000 at a production rate of 10,000 units per year. Those figures cover parts rather than the full cost of building and delivering a robot.

How Digit 5 extends the deployed model

Organizations that have deployed Digit 4 include GXO Logistics, Amazon, Schaeffler and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Agility says the earlier model moved 100,000 totes at GXO's Flowery Branch site while maintaining about 98% on-task accuracy.

Those deployments focused largely on tote handling. For Digit 5, Agility lists a wider planned task set: depalletizing, machine tending, kitting, sequencing, quality inspection and palletizing.

Sources

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