Agility Robotics' Digit humanoid collapses during ProMat demo in Chicago

What happened

Agility Robotics exhibited a new version of its Digit humanoid at ProMat 2023, a supply-chain trade show held in Chicago in March 2023. In a replica warehouse work cell at the company’s booth, Digit repeatedly picked containers from a rack and carried them to a conveyor in front of show attendees.

Time-lapse video later released by the company shows the robot stopping as it goes to pick up another load and then dropping to the floor. Agility said Digit took a couple of falls during roughly 20 hours of live demonstrations over the course of the show.

Coverage of the clip does not describe any person being struck or hurt.

The system involved

Digit is a two-legged humanoid robot built by Agility Robotics for logistics work such as moving totes in warehouses. The version shown at ProMat added a head with LED eyes and new end effectors designed for handling plastic totes.

The demonstration ran in a mock warehouse cell on the show floor. The sources reviewed do not describe the control mode in detail or identify what caused the falls.

Investigation and response

Agility Robotics publicized the fall rather than hiding it. In an April 6, 2023 social media post it cited a 99% success rate over about 20 hours of demos, acknowledged a couple of falls, and joked that its sales team might have staged them to show off Digit’s quick-change limbs and durability.

A company communications executive said the footage was shared deliberately because falling is a normal part of any new technology. No investigation or regulatory action was reported.

What is not established

The exact day of the fall shown in the video, the number of falls during the show and the technical cause have not been published. Widely shared captions saying the robot collapsed after working 20 hours straight overstate the company’s statement, which referred to about 20 hours of demos across the show.