Agility Robotics explores wheeled version of Digit humanoid
CEO Jonathan Hurst says wheels could get the company's robots into more environments sooner, though he would not say whether a wheeled Digit is coming or a separate product.
Agility Robotics is exploring wheeled robot designs alongside its legged Digit humanoid, showing a rendering of a wheeled version in the Digit 5 launch video, The Robot Report said.
Wheels "could help us bring robotics to more environments sooner," CEO Jonathan Hurst told The Robot Report. He pointed to flat, predictable spaces, where wheels offer more stability and use less energy than legs suited to stairs and obstacles.
Hurst declined to say whether Agility is building a wheeled variant of Digit or a separate product line. "Too early to say," he told The Robot Report. "I have guesses and inclinations, but really we're just starting," he said, without giving a timeline for when a wheeled robot might reach customers.
Digit, Agility's two-legged humanoid, is built for warehouse and logistics work such as moving totes and unloading trailers. The Robot Report did not say what use cases Agility has in mind for a wheeled design, or whether it would compete with wheeled logistics robots already common in warehouses.