Agility Robotics and FORT Robotics have upgraded their multi-year supplier relationship into a strategic partnership centered on Digit 5's safety infrastructure. The architecture includes three components: a safety pendant with manual override controls, onboard communication systems, and an offboard interface that connects Digit to external safety systems in customer facilities.
Digit 5 will be Agility's first humanoid engineered for cooperatively safe operation in human-occupied industrial spaces. The safety architecture is designed to handle detection, cuing, and motion control both on the robot and through facility-level interfaces. The pendant provides redundant manual override during setup, maintenance, or unexpected events, while the offboard bridge extends safety coverage to environmental inputs beyond the robot's onboard sensors.
Previous Digit models have logged over 65,000 operational hours across deployments at Schaeffler, GXO, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. The formalized partnership positions FORT as more than a component supplier — the companies will collaborate on hardware development, regulatory compliance, and deployment support as Digit 5 scales into more complex commercial environments.
The move reflects the operational reality of humanoid deployment: safety systems must function reliably both on the robot and in coordination with existing facility infrastructure. As Digit takes on tasks in warehouses, manufacturing, and logistics, the integrated architecture aims to provide customers with layered protection and broader safety coverage as deployments expand.
