Agility Robotics Co-Founder's Dream of a Walking Robot Becomes Digit 5, a Practical Machine
Source IEEE Spectrum
At a glance
Jonathan Hurst, co-founder of Agility Robotics, dreamed of building a robot that moves like a human. That dream carried on through the research robots ATRIAS and Cassie. The company has now released Digit 5, a practical humanoid robot that can take on warehouse work.
Key points
Digit 5 is designed to lift 23-kilogram boxes onto high shelves.
The battery reportedly runs for 90 minutes on a 9-minute charge.
The robot is heavy and large, far from the graceful movement the founder first imagined.
The company chose to commercialize the robot in a way different from what it first imagined.
Why it matters
It shows that robots taking over difficult or tedious warehouse jobs that people find hard or boring is becoming closer to reality.
Original article
The Robot I Didn’t Expect to Build
IEEE Spectrum · Oct 19, 2026, 10:00 PM GMT+9 · spectrum.ieee.org
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