Highlight of the News
A group of Digit humanoids, created by Oregon-based company Agility Robotics, turned up at a Spanx plant. The humanoid fleet worked in collaboration with six autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to improve the factory’s level of automation.
How do the humannoids work?
To be more specific, the six River System AMRs acted as the transporter, bringing totes empty or full of shapewear products to the humanoids. Next, the Digit robots, leveraging on their human-like features, picked up totes from each shelf, either bottom or top, of the AMRs. The humanoid worker then placed the totes onto conveyors. All of the work is orchestrated through a cloud automation platform.
What about the cost effectiveness?
The Digit team was dispatched under the robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model, which helped Agility Robotics land its first sale. As soon as the humanoids started working, they began to generate revenue for their creators. At present, Agility Robotics is charging its customers a “fully-loaded $30 per hour”, inclusive of all accessories and maintenance. Once fully charged, the robots can work 8 consecutive hours at one go.
Future Trend
The robotic company was planning its next-generation Digits. New series will see an increase in lifting capacity (15.8 to 22.6 kg) and battery life, which is going to further strengthen users’ Return on Investments (ROIs).
