In a meaningful example of a major business bringing aboard humanoid robots, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC), is to deploy several Digit units, created by Agility Robotics, after signing a Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) agreement. It follows a successful pilot.
They will be used to ‘support employees with manufacturing, supply chain and logistics operations’. TMMC will assess how things go with a view to widening the deployment.
The logic here is as follows: ‘The companies will explore how automating some extremely repetitive and physically taxing tasks commonly found on automotive manufacturing production lines could reduce strain and increase safety for employees, freeing them to do more value-added work in the production facility.’
In short, this means it’s about the tasks humans don’t want to do and where those tasks create the most risk for employees and employers alike (although different types of risk..!). There is also the now ubiquitous comment that this will allow staff to focus on higher value needs.
Agility also has deals with GXO, the world’s largest contract logistics provider; Schaeffler, the motion technology company; and Amazon.
However, we should not get carried away. These are limited deployments and in reality, despite the Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) agreement, this is still mostly about testing the technology. That said, these moves are undertaken with the intention of wider use in the future.
Tim Hollander, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, commented: ‘After evaluating a number of robots, we are excited to deploy Digit to improve the team member experience and further increase operational efficiency in our manufacturing facilities.’
While Peggy Johnson, Agility Robotics’ CEO, noted: ‘With our next generation of Digit, we will be the first company to deliver the first cooperatively safe humanoid robot to work alongside people, allowing companies like Toyota to scale their use of humanoids well beyond what is possible today.’
Is this a big deal?
As noted, we should see this – and moves similar to this – as extended studies, rather than deployments on such a scale that their economic impact will be felt. For multi-billion dollar organisations, bringing in a few humanoids is always going to be about testing – for now.
That said, this is a significant step and shows real engagement. Moreover, if feedback from this limited deployment is positive then other manufacturers are sure to increase their interest.
As market observers know, there are also a wide, and growing, range of humanoid competitors, so TCCM choosing Digit is a validation of Agility’s latest humanoid iteration.
As to Digit itself (see image from company website), it is 5’ 9” tall, bipedal, and usually seen with ‘pincer’ hands, rather than a finger-based set-up. In terms of capability, the company markets the droid via a range of set ‘skills’, which include activities such as tote un/loading, de/stacking and nesting. I.e. these are not the most complex skills, but they are practical and one would presume this means Digit can be moved into meaningful activity quite rapidly because of these more narrow focuses.
And in terms of AI, they say that ‘Digit uses a combination of traditional controls and AI-based learned methods, including … perception, navigation, and planning’.
It also connects to Agilty’s ‘Arc’ cloud-based automation system, which integrates with leading Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Warehouse Execution Systems (WES), or Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), ‘using industry-standard APIs, ensuring swift deployment and compatibility’.
It will be fascinating to see how this deployment gets on.
More about Agility here.
—
Discover more from The Robot Times
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.