Agility Robotics is revolutionizing the robotics industry with their humanoid robot Digit, focusing on partnerships, safety, and innovation to solve real work problems in logistics and beyond
Questions to inspire discussion
-
What is Agility Robotics' focus?
—Agility Robotics focuses on revolutionizing the robotics industry with their humanoid robot Digit, solving real work problems in logistics and beyond.
-
What are some of Agility Robotics' partnerships?
—Agility Robotics has partnerships with Amazon, gxo, Manhattan Associates, and Zion to integrate their Fleet Management system into logistics facilities.
-
What is the production capacity of Agility Robotics' factory?
—Agility Robotics is building a factory with a capacity of 10,000 units per year, with plans to start production this summer.
-
What is the main challenge in robotics manufacturing?
—The main challenge in robotics manufacturing lies in reducing the cost of sensors and safety technology, as well as the AI and training aspect.
-
What is the goal of Agility Robotics in the robotics industry?
—Agility Robotics aims to stay ahead in the race to innovate and meet safety standards, with the goal of eventually entering the consumer market.
Key Insights
Robotics Industry Advancements
- 🤖 Agility robotics is at the forefront of the humanoid robot market, with breakthroughs in productive work for companies like Amazon and gxo.
- 🧠 The interviewer is incredibly excited about the interview and specifically about the things Agility Robotics does.
- 🤖 Our architecture decisions have put us ahead of the entire industry, leading to a high demand and the need to build a factory with a capacity of 10,000 units a year.
- 🏭 Agility Robotics aims to have hundreds of bots next year and thousands in the future, working side by side with humans in factory environments.
- 💰 The SAS model is generally on par with a human laborer, making it an attractive option for customers looking to cut costs.
- 🤖 Peggy Johnson emphasizes the importance of focusing on companies with a deployment plan to avoid getting caught in the loop of innovation without solving real problems.
Future Applications of Humanoid Robots
- 🏗️ Peggy Johnson, CEO of Agility Robotics, envisions expanding the use of humanoid robots beyond logistics, into areas like transportation and retail, as the need for automation grows.
- 📈 Taking what we've learned in logistics and applying it to other segments of the economy, teaching digit new skills much more quickly.
- 📈 The logistics industry faces a shortage of human labor, and humanoid bots could be a valuable solution to fill in during peak demand periods.
- 🤖 The goal is to have a fully collaborative robot in the next two to three years, driving towards full collaborative safety.
- 💡 "Once we get to collaborative safety that'll open up all sorts of new markets and eventually moving out and into the consumer market."
- 🤖 "AI-powered natural language interfaces could change the paradigm of programming, allowing ordinary people to get complex tasks done without needing programming expertise."
Technical Advantages of Agility Robotics
- 🤖 The company has been purposeful in its ability to interact with other types of automation and connect to them, not only physically but also from an infosec perspective, allowing for seamless integration with various automation technologies.
- 🤖 Large language models can be applied to enhance the semantic intelligence of robots, allowing them to understand and execute complex tasks based on natural language commands.
- 🤖 Agility Robotics defines "useful work" as being able to do the same task as a human with the same reliability, repeatability, accuracy, cycle time, and cost.
- 🤖 Agility Robotics' digit robot is so advanced that it doesn't need pick to light systems, as it is directly tied into the system and knows what to do next.
- 🤖 The key to unlocking the ability to deploy robots massively at scale is getting the deployment time to be very short.
- 🤖 The leg architecture gives Agility Robotics a huge advantage in squatting, allowing them to squat very low to the ground in the environments they work in.
#Cobots
XMentions: @herbertong @HabitatsDigital @GoingBallistic5 @DrKnowItAll16
Clips
-
00:00 🤖 Agility Robotics' humanoid robot Digit is making strides in the market, with partnerships with Amazon and GXO, and a focus on customer interaction and enterprise solutions.
- Agility Robotics is at the forefront of the humanoid robot market, with their robot Digit making significant strides in delivering productive work for companies like Amazon and gxo, and they have recently announced new partnerships and leadership changes.
- Dr. Scott Walter, Peggy, and Melanie discuss their excitement for the interview and the specific things their company does.
- Agility Robotics' humanoid robot, Digit, is designed specifically for useful work and is the only one deployed in the field, with partnerships with Amazon and GXO.
- Agility Robotics CEO discusses the importance of customer interaction, data collection, and enterprise solutions, leading to the development of a factory with a capacity of 10,000 units per year.
- Agility Robotics integrated customer feedback early on, partnered with Amazon and gxo, and designed the robot based on logistics challenges.
- Agility Robotics' robot, Digit, is designed to be agile and able to work in confined spaces, allowing it to interact with other types of automation and connect to traditional automation components.
-
06:26 🤖 Agility Robotics is partnering with companies like Amazon and gxo to use humanoid robots for logistics, building a factory to produce 10,000 robots per year, and developing a Cloud automation platform for complete solutions in factories.
- Agility Robotics is partnering with Amazon and gxo to use humanoid robots for tasks that are difficult for humans, with plans to expand into other areas beyond logistics.
- Agility Robotics is partnering with companies like Manhattan Associates and Zion to integrate their Fleet Management system into logistics facilities, allowing them to reach more customers and expand their distribution.
- Agility Robotics is building a factory to produce 10,000 robots per year, with plans to start production this summer.
- Agility Robotics CEO discusses the company's manufacturing operations, the decision to locate in Oregon, and the development of their Arc software platform for managing robot fleets.
- Agility Robotics' Cloud automation platform integrates with various components in factories to provide a complete solution for customers, including fleet management, orchestration, documentation, and support.
- Agility Robotics has a partnership with Nvidia and their robot, Digit, has different levels of physical, semantic, and collective intelligence, making it easy to train and transition from simulation to real-world capabilities.
-
18:28 🤖 Agility Robotics is developing mobile manipulation robots with a focus on safety and collaboration, aiming to deploy hundreds of bots next year and expand into other industries.
- Large language models can be applied to robots to understand and execute customer workflows, but the challenge lies in adapting generic models to unique environments like factories and logistics facilities.
- The focus is on using data collected from robots to train future models and improve the intelligence of the robots, including AI capabilities, to address challenges in humanoid robotics.
- Agility Robotics is working on mobile manipulation robots with a focus on safety and collaborative work with humans, aiming to have hundreds of bots next year and thousands in the future.
- Agility Robotics can deploy their technology now without being limited by AI, and they plan to expand their skills to other sectors using customer data.
- Agility Robotics is focused on developing interchangeable end effectors for their robots, allowing them to use different tools and grippers for various tasks in different industries.
- Agility Robotics is expanding into other industries such as transportation and retail, with a focus on understanding the needs of different vertical segments and working with them to come up with solutions.
-
25:38 🤖 Agility Robotics raised $150 million, offers robots for business use, and their humanoid bot, Digit, can perform tasks equivalent to humans, with a focus on solving real work problems in the logistics industry.
- Agility Robotics has raised $150 million in funding, deploys robots with revenue, and offers two business models for customers, with pricing on par with human labor.
- Agility Robotics' robot, Digit, is able to perform useful work equivalent to a human in terms of reliability, repeatability, accuracy, cycle time, and cost, as demonstrated by its real work at a trade show.
- Agility Robotics provided humanoid bots to help with peak labor demand in the logistics industry, focusing on delivering immediate value and solving real work problems.
- Agility Robotics CEO explains the limitations of wheeled robots in warehouses and the advantages of using humanoid bots for complex tasks.
- Peggy Johnson discusses the potential of autonomous mobile robots in facilities and the importance of safety, as well as the integration of robots like Digit in various applications.
- Agility Robotics' digit robot is integrated into the system and does not require pick to light, as it can directly receive instructions from the WMS, making it well-suited for tasks previously designed for humans.
-
36:10 🤖 Agility Robotics CEO discusses the evolution and safety of their robot Digit, emphasizing the advantages of interchangeable hands for industrial tasks.
- Peggy Johnson discusses the possibility of running a marathon with the robot Digit, acknowledging that Digit would likely beat her due to its speed.
- Agility Robotics CEO discusses the potential tie-in between Magic Leap technology and robotic operation, as well as the evolution of the arms used in their robot, Digit.
- The decision to change the shoulder design of the robot was driven by the need to achieve a more complete volumetric workspace for tasks such as machine tending and reaching into tight spaces.
- Agility Robotics is working towards achieving full collaborative safety in their robot design, with plans to have a fully collaborative robot in the next two to three years, focusing on practical robotics and safety near humans.
- The CEO discusses the safety measures and risk assessment for the Tesla Bot rival Agility Robotics.
- Agility Robotics CEO discusses the design and functionality of their robot, emphasizing the advantages of interchangeable hands over five-fingered hands in industrial and manufacturing tasks.
-
45:31 🤖 Agility Robotics focuses on custom actuators and reducing sensor costs, with a goal of scaling deployment and strategic partnerships for their robots.
- Agility Robotics uses a mixture of different actuators in their robot, some custom designed and manufactured in-house, while others are outsourced, with a focus on CYO technology for better sensing and control.
- The most costly components in robots are sensors and safety systems, with actuators driving towards lower costs, but the main challenge lies in reducing the cost of sensors and safety technology.
- Metal costs are a big problem when building large volumes of robots, with companies like Amazon showing the trajectory of price reduction, but the biggest challenge today is the AI and training aspect, not the manufacturing of the robot.
- Agility Robotics is focused on reducing deployment time for their robots in order to be able to deploy them at scale.
- Peggy Johnson discusses the company's focus on strategic partnerships and scaling through initial deployments with companies that have a plan to deploy broadly.
- Agility Robotics has plans to use their robot in their receiving area, with the goal of eventually reaching 100% efficiency.
-
52:45 🤖 Agility Robotics is working on automating machine loading and offloading, with plans to enter the consumer market and stay ahead in innovation, while emphasizing the importance of physical intelligence in robots.
- Agility Robotics is working on automating the loading and offloading of machines with the goal of eventually being able to swap out end effectors and sell their technology to suppliers.
- Peggy Johnson discusses the company's ambitions, expertise, and plans to stay ahead in the race to innovate and meet safety standards, with the goal of eventually entering the consumer market.
- Agility Robotics has achieved significant milestones with their robots, is bringing in revenue, and is focused on building a successful business in a large market, while also considering the competition.
- The physical intelligence of robots is paramount and should be solved along with semantic intelligence, as relying solely on AI algorithms to control robots is too early given the current state of AI.
- Training robots requires a large amount of data, and the company will have a comprehensive data lake to support the development of their robots.
- Scott asks a question to Melody and Peggy.
-
59:15 🤖 Agility Robotics CEO discusses the importance of ankle joints and seven degree of freedom arm for their Tesla Bot rival, praising Peggy Johnson and Melanie for their achievements in humanoid robotics.
- The purpose of the robot is to move the hands through space, and adding an actuator would give the hands a new degree of freedom.
- Agility Robotics' leg architecture allows for advantages in squatting and turning, but there is controversy over which joint to remove to lower the cost of Digit.
- The ankle joint is likely the most important joint for the Tesla Bot rival Agility Robotics.
- The goal is to reach a price point that customers care about, and ankle joints can be added back in for new markets that require them.
- Agility Robotics CEO discusses the importance of the seven degree of freedom arm and the history of working on mobile manipulation robots.
- Peggy Johnson and Melanie are praised for their unique approach to humanoid robotics and their impressive achievements in the field.
-------------------------------------
Duration: 1:5:6
Publication Date: 2024-06-09T13:39:37Z
WatchUrl:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjf28ZBnn3k
-------------------------------------