Why This Warehouse Robot Finally Got a Head – CNET [CNET]

The latest Digit robot could be coming to warehouses by 2025.

A once-headless warehouse robot is headless no more.

Agility Robotics introduced its newest Digit robot to the world earlier this month, complete with its first head and a redesigned set of end effectors (think hands). Standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall, the quadruped is designed to work alongside humans in warehouses and other logistics operations.

The upgrades are intended to improve human robot interaction. Adding a head and digital face to the robots allows humans to better understand what Digit is about to do. “You really want it to be intuitive.” CTO Jonathan Hurst told CNET.  

 “You don’t want to have to train people that this light means that and this sound means this. We have the opportunity of using body language and expression to share intent from the robot.” Watch the video above to learn more about the latest upgrades to Digit and how they work.

Agility says it plans to start shipping the latest version of Digit in early 2025. The company hasn’t set a price tag yet but told CNET it expects the robot to cost less than the previous version of Digit priced at $250,000.