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SYFY WIRE Robotics

Sleepy Hollow's headless horseman has nothing on Agility's box-stacking robot

By Jeff Spry
Agility Robotics

October is the perfect time for many forms of headless horrors, but few are as industrious and hard-working as this new cranium-deficient, box-stacking robot that was just put on the market for a cool quarter-million dollars!

Prepared to be put to work on any number of labor-intensive jobs not limited to stacking corrugated boxes, Albany, Oregon-based robot manufacturer Agility Robotics' slender humanoid robot named Digit is quite adept at loading and unloading boxes from a delivery truck, or entering dangerous environments humans might deem unsafe, or any other related task. 

Fortified with a fresh infusion of cash for marketing and production, the tech firm recently announced a $20 million round of investment capital and is recharged to go into full commercial operation supplying its robotic model to forward-thinking customers around the globe.

Take a look at this cool hardware's higher functions in the video below!

While Digit might be briefly identified as a headless terror mindlessly stealing cardboard cubes, the green metallic sheen on its angular torso and its odd backwards bending knees soon give way to its advanced machine-like origins. And for convenience sake, this bi-pedal employee can be powered down and packed into a rolling suitcase for easy transport and delivery.

“If robots are going to be effective and useful to us they’re going to have to work on our terms in our space,” Agility CEO Jonathan Hurst notes in the demonstration video. "Having Digit work in human spaces means Digit is going to be able to do a wide variety of different tasks. Things like package handling in warehouses, or indooor and outdoor delivery, or inspecting hazardous workplaces, or any application that requires the basic abilities that shape the person." 

Earlier this year, Ford became Digit's first official buyer, with plans to use it for package delivery and loading dock work partnered with self-driving vehicles. Should our dwindling labor workforce be afraid of these android assistants or welcome them into the fold?