Digit robot

2020: Start of sales

At the beginning of January, 2020 Agility Robotics announced the beginning of sales of orthograde Digit robots couriers. At the first stage the company released only 6 copies of the product. Within a year it is going to deliver to clients about 20-30 pieces, and in the 2021st — Agility Robotics intends to double production of such robots.

The CEO of Agility Robotics Damion Shelton in a conversation with the The Verge edition did not set the exact price of the robot, but said that it is about "at least six-digit number". Proceeding from approximate service life of the machine, it determined the cost of one hour of its work at $25.

Agility Robotics announced the beginning of sales of orthograde Digit robots couriers

This price completely corresponds to a readiness stage. Clients can get Digit from a box, connect it to the charger, load and begin operation — he noted.

According to Shelton, he will never agree to arms of the product though the predecessor of Digit — Cassie — was developed with assistance of DARPA (Management of perspective research projects of the U.S. Department of Defense) as the potential robot intelligence agent.

Digit has classical construction of the android with two legs, two hands and a torso. On site the heads of Digit the lidar allowing the robot to trace obstacles around and supplementing the stereocameras set on a torso is.

The second version of the robot which was provided in October, 2019 and went on sale at the beginning of the 2020th, received steady construction and capability to transfer boxes. Besides, developers taught the robot to trace obstacles including dynamic, and to avoid a meeting with them.

As for the Cassie robot, in Agility Robotics also continue to improve it. In particular, they taught him to mint a ball and to maintain balance, standing on two legs.^[1]

2019: Ford announced plans for use of DIgit robots

On May 23, 2019 Ford and Agility Robotics announced consolidation of the efforts to solve a problem of load of the cities and to display autonomous delivery to new level. The companies undertook to solve a problem of multi-purpose use of UAVs in the field of which seemed inapplicable to them earlier, namely in the last stage of process of delivery — a way from the machine to the customer's door.

Digit robot

As cars with off-line control can transport at the same time both people, and goods, they have high potential to make delivery even more convenient and effective. Traditional ridesharing can be expanded also for delivery implementation, transferring sendings from the passenger to the passenger. During pilot projects it became clear that it is not always convenient to people to leave the house to take away purchase, and it is not always profitable to companies to open own delivery service. If to exempt people from need to think of logistics, they will be able to spend the time and efforts to what really requires their attention.

The American startup of Agility Robotics provided the biped Digit robot who not only visually reminds the person, but also repeats his gait. Digit is made of light materials and is capable to lift sendings up to 18 kg, to overcome ladders, to go on the cross-country terrain and to save balance even at collision with the car.

The biped robot repeats gait of the person

Such capabilities seem to people natural, however they are extremely important during creation of the robot who should be adapted to features of the environment. On the way from the car to the client's door such obstacles as ladders and a difficult relief which the normal robot on wheels cannot overcome often meet. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the USA, only about 1% of the American houses are equipped with ramps for movement on wheelchairs. The feature of Digit is that it can vertically go, saving energy and freely moving in conditions, usual for people.

Thanks to the thought-over design, Digit can develop in a back part of the unmanned vehicle and be in such status while it is not required. As soon as the UAV comes to a destination point, the robot accepts the complete size and completes the last phase of delivery.

The robot completes the last phase of delivery

In addition to capability to overcome obstacles, Digit has one more advantage. As the robot should work independently and at the same time have lightweight and capability to fast independent movement, developers decided to give him the chance to use resources of the autonomous car equipped with advanced sensors and heavy ADP equipment for ensuring additional support and analytic functions.

Ford unmanned vehicles are capable to create the detailed map of the area. Developers decided to use these data and for the robot. When the car brings Digit to a destination point, the machine transmits to it wirelessly all necessary information, including the most suitable route to a door. Thanks to such data exchange with the UAV, Digit can define the location and begin delivery.

Equipped with LiDAR technology and the built-in stereoscopic cameras, the robot obtains enough information for creation of routes at this conjuncture. If suddenly Digit faces an obstacle, it can send the image to the UAV which will propose solution. The car can even transfer this information to a cloud and address other systems to help the robot to orient. Such scheme of work provides several levels of support Digit when preserving its ease and flexibility. Thanks to the small weight of the robot, duration of his work increases that is of great importance for services of pilotless delivery which need to save working capacity during the day.

The main objective of Ford and Agility Robotics — to be convinced that robots are safe, reliable and capable to work productively together with people, both at productions, and in normal life. The joint project of Ford unmanned vehicles and Digit robots helps in search of new methods of delivery in the future.

Robotics