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Agility Robotics (rebranded as Agility in March 2026) is an American robotics company that designs and manufactures bipedal humanoid robots for logistics and industrial applications. The company is best known for its Digit humanoid robot, which is commercially deployed in warehouse and manufacturing environments across North America. Founded in 2015 as a spinout from Oregon State University's Dynamic Robotics Laboratory, Agility has grown into one of the leading companies in the humanoid robotics industry, with over $680 million in total funding and partnerships with major corporations including Amazon, GXO Logistics, Toyota, and Schaeffler.
The company is headquartered in Corvallis, Oregon, with additional offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Palo Alto, California. Its manufacturing facility, RoboFab, is located in Salem, Oregon, and holds the distinction of being the world's first factory purpose-built for humanoid robot production.
Agility Robotics traces its roots to research conducted at Oregon State University's Dynamic Robotics Laboratory, led by Professor Jonathan Hurst. Hurst and fellow co-founder Damion Shelton first met as Ph.D. students in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. After completing his doctorate, Hurst joined Oregon State University as a professor and helped co-found the Oregon State University Robotics Institute. His research focused on the physics of legged locomotion and dynamic stability in bipedal systems.
The lab's earliest major project was ATRIAS, a bipedal research robot developed from roughly 2009 to 2016. ATRIAS was the first robot to reproduce human-like walking gait dynamics and to implement spring-mass walking. While ATRIAS was a scientific breakthrough, it was not a practical machine for applications beyond laboratory demonstrations. It had motors that worked against each other, making it inefficient, and it lacked the robustness needed for real-world use.
In November 2015, Hurst, Shelton, and Mikhail Jones (a graduate student in Hurst's lab and lead developer of ATRIAS's control software) co-founded Agility Robotics to commercialize the bipedal locomotion technology developed at Oregon State. The company licensed the ATRIAS and Cassie technologies from the university.
Damion Shelton, who had pursued an entrepreneurial path after Carnegie Mellon and co-founded a 3D imaging startup, reconnected with Hurst when the research showed practical commercial applications. Shelton served as the company's first CEO. Jones brought deep expertise in control software, having written the systems that made ATRIAS walk.
The company raised a $792,000 seed round in October 2016, led by The Robotics Hub, to begin developing its first commercial product.
In 2017, Agility introduced Cassie, an ostrich-inspired bipedal robot with no upper body, arms, or perception systems. Cassie represented a major evolution from ATRIAS: it weighed half as much as its predecessor, fixed the inefficient motor configuration, and added steering, feet, and a sealed system suitable for outdoor use.
Cassie was sold as a research platform to academic labs and research institutions. The robot was developed with support from a 16-month, $1 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Though Cassie lacked manipulation capabilities, its dynamic walking ability on varied terrain made it an important testbed for bipedal locomotion research.
In March 2018, Agility raised an $8 million Series A round led by Playground Global. The funding enabled the company to expand its engineering team and begin developing a full humanoid robot.
In 2019, Agility introduced the first version of Digit, a full-size humanoid robot that added a torso, arms, and an integrated perception system to Cassie's proven leg platform. Digit was initially sold to academic labs and research institutes.
In January 2020, the company announced a partnership with Ford Motor Company to explore last-mile autonomous delivery. The concept paired Ford's autonomous vehicle technology with Digit: a self-driving van would carry packages to a neighborhood, and Digit would walk the final stretch to the customer's doorstep, navigating sidewalks, grass, stairs, and other obstacles. Ford became the first customer for Digit, receiving the first two production units off the line. Digit's design allowed it to fold itself compactly for storage in the back of a vehicle.
Also in October 2020, Agility raised an $11.75 million extension round with participation from DCVC, Playground Global, Safar Partners, Sony Innovation Fund, TDK Ventures, and others.
On April 22, 2022, Agility announced a $150 million Series B funding round, co-led by DCVC and Playground Global. The round included participation from the newly announced Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (a $1 billion venture fund that Amazon created to invest in startups building customer fulfillment, logistics, and supply chain technologies). Previous investors MFV Partners, ITIC, Robotics Hub, Safar Partners, Sony Innovation Fund, and TDK Ventures also participated.
The Series B capital was directed toward accelerating research and development, scaling robot production, and expanding the company's operations. Agility opened a new office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to tap into the city's deep talent pool in artificial intelligence and robotics, while also expanding its primary Oregon facilities and Palo Alto operations.
On March 4, 2024, Agility appointed veteran technology executive Peggy Johnson as Chief Executive Officer. Co-founder Damion Shelton transitioned to the role of President. Johnson had most recently served as CEO of spatial computing company Magic Leap, where she led a successful pivot from consumer to enterprise products and launched Magic Leap 2. Before Magic Leap, Johnson held senior leadership positions at Microsoft and Qualcomm, giving her extensive experience in scaling technology businesses.
In December 2024, Shelton shifted to the role of Chief Engagement Officer, taking responsibility for commercial and investor engagements. Jonathan Hurst continues to serve as Chief Robot Officer, focusing on the company's long-term technology vision.
In April 2024, Agility laid off approximately 150 employees, representing roughly 20% of its workforce. The company described the restructuring as a shift toward commercialization, parting ways with employees whose roles were not central to core product development and the company's go-to-market strategy. As of late 2025, the company employed approximately 294 people.
In September 2025, Agility reportedly raised a Series C funding round of approximately $400 million at a pre-money valuation of roughly $1.8 billion. Key investors in this round included the Schaeffler Group, which also signed a strategic partnership agreement.
On March 5, 2026, the company officially rebranded from "Agility Robotics" to "Agility," dropping "Robotics" from its name. The company explained that the new name reflected its evolving scope, allowing room to expand into new use cases, services, and industries beyond its original robotics focus. The rebrand included a refreshed logo and visual identity inspired by the hardware and software the company designs.
Cassie is a bipedal research robot that served as Agility's first commercial product and the direct predecessor to Digit. Inspired by the biomechanics of ostriches and other ground-running birds, Cassie features digitigrade (bird-like) legs with reverse-bending knees that provide efficient and stable locomotion.
Cassie consists of a lower body only, with two legs and no upper torso, arms, or head. The robot's leg design uses compliant elements (springs) that store and release energy during walking and running, mimicking the spring-mass dynamics observed in biological bipedal locomotion. This approach, developed through the ATRIAS research, allows Cassie to maintain balance dynamically rather than through careful static positioning.
The robot can walk on flat ground, rough terrain, grass, gravel, and slopes. It can handle disturbances like pushes and uneven surfaces without falling. Cassie was one of the first robots to use reinforcement learning to control a running gait on outdoor terrain.
Cassie achieved two notable milestones in bipedal robot locomotion:
| Achievement | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 5K Run | July 2021 | Completed 5 kilometers on Oregon State's campus in 53 minutes and 3 seconds. The run was completed untethered and on a single battery charge. Total time included about 6.5 minutes of resets following two falls (one from an overheated computer, one from an overly fast turn). |
| Guinness World Record: 100m Sprint | May 11, 2022 | Ran 100 meters in 24.73 seconds at OSU's Whyte Track and Field Center, earning the Guinness World Record for fastest 100 meters by a bipedal robot. Cassie started from a standing position and returned to standing after the sprint with no falls. |
Both achievements relied on neural networks trained through reinforcement learning in simulation, with the 100-meter sprint controlled by a neural network trained for approximately one year of simulated time (compressed to about one week of real computation).
Digit is Agility's flagship humanoid robot, designed for commercial logistics and industrial automation. Building on Cassie's proven bipedal platform, Digit adds a torso, arms, a head with perception sensors, and manipulation capabilities, making it a complete humanoid system capable of navigating human environments and handling physical objects.
Digit has gone through several iterations since its introduction:
| Version | Year | Key Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Digit v1 | 2019 | First full humanoid version; added torso, arms, and basic perception to the Cassie leg platform |
| Digit v2 | 2020 | Improved manipulation; partnered with Ford for delivery research |
| Digit v3 | 2022 | Enhanced sensors and control systems |
| Digit v4 | 2023 | Current commercial model; redesigned for warehouse logistics with improved hands, sensors, and safety features |
| Digit v5 | Expected late 2025/2026 | Increased payload (50 lbs), improved battery, cooperatively safe operation |
The following table summarizes the key specifications of the commercially deployed Digit v4:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lbs) |
| Payload Capacity | 16 kg (35 lbs) |
| Walking Speed | 5 km/h (3.1 mph) |
| Continuous Runtime | Up to 4 hours |
| Work-to-Charge Ratio | 4:1 (4 minutes of work per 1 minute of charging) |
| Sensors | LiDAR, four Intel RealSense depth cameras, MEMS IMU |
| Arm Degrees of Freedom | 4 DOF per arm |
| Hands | Fourth-generation end effectors with 16 DOF |
| Navigation | Autonomous obstacle detection, footstep planning, stair climbing |
| Self-Docking | Autonomous battery charging |
Digit walks upright on two legs, allowing it to navigate the same spaces designed for human workers: narrow aisles, doorways, ramps, and stairs. Its bird-like leg design provides stability on uneven surfaces and the ability to step over small obstacles.
The robot's manipulation system enables it to pick up, carry, place, and stack totes and packages. Digit can perform a variety of warehouse tasks:
Digit uses its LiDAR and depth cameras to build maps of its environment, detect obstacles, and plan paths through warehouse spaces. The robot can operate autonomously, receiving task assignments through the Agility Arc cloud platform.
The latest versions of Digit include several industrial safety features:
Agility has indicated plans to achieve functional safety certification that would allow Digit to work in direct proximity to human workers. This cooperatively safe operation is targeted for mid-to-late 2026.
RoboFab is Agility's robot manufacturing facility, located at 4698 Truax Drive S.E. in Salem, Oregon, approximately 30 miles from the company's engineering center in Corvallis. Announced in September 2023 and opened in late 2023, RoboFab is widely recognized as the world's first factory purpose-built for humanoid robot production.
The facility occupies 70,000 square feet and is designed as a capital-expenditure-light assembly facility. This means it does not rely on heavy machinery or costly industrial equipment. Instead, the assembly line is divided into work cells for the major sub-assemblies (legs, arms, torsos, and actuators), each designed to produce its component in roughly the same amount of time. An entire robot comes together simultaneously before moving on to final testing.
Agility anticipated producing hundreds of Digit robots in RoboFab's first year of operation, with the capability to scale to more than 10,000 robots per year at full capacity. At maximum output, RoboFab is expected to employ more than 500 workers in Salem, in addition to employees at Agility's other locations.
The proximity of RoboFab to Agility's engineering center enables rapid iteration between design changes and production, a deliberate choice that supports the company's strategy of continuous improvement on the Digit platform.
Agility Arc is the company's cloud-based automation platform for deploying, managing, and monitoring fleets of Digit robots. The platform was publicly launched at the MODEX trade show on March 11, 2024.
Arc serves as a centralized command center for Digit fleets, providing:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-Time Fleet Management | Monitor robot status, location, and health across an entire fleet |
| Productivity Tracking | Track KPIs including uptime, throughput, and Mean Time Between Incidents (MTBI) |
| Task Assignment | Manage and optimize task assignments across multiple robots |
| Workflow Optimization | Coordinate tasks between Digit units and other warehouse automation systems |
| System Integration | Industry-standard APIs for integration with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Warehouse Execution Systems (WES), and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) |
| AMR Integration | Connects Digit with leading AMR platforms from companies such as MiR and Zebra Robotics |
Agility Arc is delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, receiving continuous updates that enhance functionality, security, and usability. The platform is a core component of Agility's Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) offering, bundled together with hardware, maintenance, and support.
Agility has established partnerships with several major corporations across logistics, manufacturing, and technology.
Amazon has been one of Agility's most significant partners. The relationship began with Amazon's participation in the 2022 Series B funding round through the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund. In October 2023, Amazon announced it would begin testing Digit in its fulfillment centers. The initial application focused on tote recycling, a highly repetitive task that involves picking up and moving empty totes after inventory has been fully picked from them.
Digit robots were tested at Amazon's facility in Sumner, Washington, with additional pilot deployments reported in Texas facilities. Reports indicate Digit achieved a 98% task success rate during testing.
In June 2024, GXO Logistics signed a multi-year agreement with Agility to deploy Digit, representing the industry's first formal commercial deployment of humanoid robots and the first Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) deployment of humanoid robots. The deployment took place at a Spanx facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia, operated by GXO.
Digit robots at the GXO site handle tasks including moving totes from cobots, placing them onto conveyors, and stacking containers at various floor locations. All operations are orchestrated through the Agility Arc platform. In November 2025, Agility announced that Digit had moved over 100,000 totes at the GXO facility, a milestone demonstrating the reliability and endurance of the system in a live commercial environment.
In February 2026, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) announced a commercial agreement with Agility following a successful year-long pilot program. The deal calls for deploying Digit robots at TMMC's assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario. Under the RaaS model, the first wave of three Digit units will load and unload totes from automated tuggers, feeding parts to the assembly line to reduce strain on human workers. Pending initial success, the deployment is planned to expand to ten units.
In November 2024, Schaeffler AG, a global motion technology company, announced a minority investment in Agility and an agreement to purchase Digit robots for use across its global plant network. Schaeffler operates approximately 100 manufacturing plants worldwide and sees potential for significant humanoid deployment over the coming years. As of early 2026, Digit is working full shifts at a Schaeffler plant in South Carolina.
Ford was Digit's first commercial customer in 2020, receiving two production units for research into last-mile autonomous delivery. The partnership explored combining self-driving vehicles with bipedal robots for package delivery, though this particular use case did not advance to large-scale deployment as both companies shifted their strategic priorities.
Agility has also partnered with Ricoh USA (for installation and support services, announced September 2024), Zion Solutions (for systems integration, announced May 2024), and NVIDIA (for digital twin development using Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab).
Agility employs a dual business model combining direct robot sales with a Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) subscription approach. The RaaS model has emerged as the primary go-to-market strategy.
The estimated purchase price for a Digit unit ranges from approximately $150,000 to $250,000, depending on configuration and integration support. Under the RaaS model, Agility bundles the robot hardware, Agility Arc software, ongoing maintenance, and technical support into a monthly subscription fee.
Agility CEO Peggy Johnson has stated that the company currently charges approximately $30 per hour for Digit under RaaS agreements. The robot's underlying operating cost is estimated at $10 to $12 per hour, with the potential to drop to $2 to $3 per hour as production scales. Agility targets an under-two-year return on investment for customers, benchmarked against a fully loaded human worker cost of $30 per hour.
Agility's initial focus is on logistics and warehouse operations, where labor shortages and physically demanding, repetitive tasks create strong demand for automation. The company is expanding into manufacturing (as demonstrated by the Toyota and Schaeffler partnerships) and has indicated broader ambitions signaled by its 2026 rebrand.
The following table summarizes Agility's known funding rounds:
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investors | Notable Participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | October 2016 | $792,000 | The Robotics Hub | - |
| Series A | March 2018 | $8 million | Playground Global | - |
| Series A Extension | October 2020 | $11.75 million | Multiple | DCVC, Playground Global, Safar Partners, Sony Innovation Fund, TDK Ventures |
| Series B | April 2022 | $150 million | DCVC, Playground Global | Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, MFV Partners, ITIC, Robotics Hub, Safar Partners, Sony Innovation Fund, TDK Ventures |
| Series C | September 2025 | ~$400 million (reported) | Undisclosed | Schaeffler Group |
Total reported funding exceeds $680 million.
Agility operates in the rapidly growing humanoid robotics market alongside several well-funded competitors:
| Company | Robot | Key Differentiator |
|---|---|---|
| Agility (Agility Robotics) | Digit | Logistics-first design; most commercially deployed humanoid as of 2025; proven in live warehouse operations |
| Tesla | Optimus | Leverages Tesla's AI and manufacturing scale; targeting mass production at $20,000 to $30,000 per unit |
| Boston Dynamics | Atlas | Fully electric production version launched at CES 2026; 56 degrees of freedom; 50 kg lift capacity; backed by Hyundai |
| Figure AI | Figure 02 | Raised at $39 billion valuation; integrates large language models for conversational interaction; early commercial pilots |
| Apptronik | Apollo | Human-scale humanoid designed for manufacturing; partnerships with NASA and Mercedes-Benz |
| Unitree Robotics | H1 | Chinese manufacturer; lower-cost humanoid platform targeting research and light industrial use |
| 1X Technologies | NEO | Norwegian company backed by OpenAI; focused on safe, human-friendly robots for home and workplace |
Agility's primary competitive advantage lies in its commercial deployment track record. While many humanoid robot companies are still in the prototype or pilot phase, Agility has signed multi-year commercial contracts with Fortune 500 companies and has robots working full shifts in live operations. Its RoboFab manufacturing facility also gives it production scaling capability that most competitors lack.
However, the competitive landscape is intensifying. Tesla's manufacturing expertise and aggressive pricing targets for Optimus could reshape the market. Boston Dynamics' electric Atlas brings decades of locomotion research and Hyundai's industrial backing. Figure AI's massive fundraising gives it substantial resources for rapid development.
Agility's core technical competency is bipedal locomotion based on spring-mass dynamics. Rather than using the slow, deliberate movements of traditional humanoid robots, Agility's robots walk using dynamic balance, continuously making small adjustments to remain upright while in motion. This approach, grounded in over a decade of research at Oregon State University, allows Digit to walk efficiently on varied surfaces, handle disturbances, and navigate environments designed for humans.
Agility uses machine learning extensively across its platform. Reinforcement learning trained in simulation is used to develop locomotion policies that transfer to the physical robot. This sim-to-real approach was demonstrated dramatically in Cassie's 5K run and 100-meter sprint, where the robot's running gaits were learned entirely through simulated training.
For Digit, machine learning plays a role in perception (recognizing and localizing objects), manipulation (grasping and placing items), and navigation (path planning through cluttered environments).
Agility has partnered with NVIDIA to develop digital twin simulations of warehouse environments using NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab. These simulations allow Agility to test and refine Digit's behaviors virtually before deploying updates to physical robots, reducing risk and accelerating development cycles.
As of early 2026, Agility's leadership team includes:
| Name | Title | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Peggy Johnson | Chief Executive Officer | Former CEO of Magic Leap; former EVP at Microsoft; former SVP at Qualcomm |
| Damion Shelton | Chief Engagement Officer, Co-Founder, Chairman | Co-founded Agility in 2015; served as CEO from founding until March 2024 |
| Jonathan Hurst | Chief Robot Officer, Co-Founder | Professor at Oregon State University; director of the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory; over two decades of bipedal locomotion research |
| Mikhail Jones | VP of Software Engineering, Co-Founder | OSU graduate; lead developer of ATRIAS and Cassie control software |
| Melonee Wise | Chief Technology Officer | Robotics pioneer; appointed CTO in 2025 |
| Location | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Corvallis, Oregon | Engineering headquarters; proximity to Oregon State University's Dynamic Robotics Lab |
| Salem, Oregon | RoboFab manufacturing facility (70,000 sq ft) |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | AI and robotics talent hub; engineering office |
| Palo Alto, California | Silicon Valley presence for commercial outreach and partnerships |