Agility’s New Factory Can Build Thousands of Humanoids a Year

Agility Robotics has introduced the opening of a 6,500 square-meter manufacturing unit devoted to constructing its Digit humanoid robotic. The manufacturing unit is situated in Salem, Oregon, which, within the opinion of this native Oregonian, is a superb state during which to find something. At peak capability, ‘RoboFab’ will make use of 500 people (working alongside a bunch of Digit robots) and can be capable to produce “more than 10,000 robots per year,” a staggering quantity contemplating that Earth’s present inhabitants of humanoid robots seemingly numbers within the low lots of at most.

The manufacturing unit has been underneath development since final yr, and is “set to open later this year,” in accordance with Agility’s press launch. In 2024, Agility anticipates that they’ll have “production capacity of hundreds of Digit robots in the first year, with the capability to scale to more than 10,000 robots per year.” Note that when Agility is referring to “production capacity,” the corporate shouldn’t be going as far as to recommend that they’ll be promoting that many robots, simply that they’re theoretically able to making them, though scaling this up is certainly not trivial.

One of the issues that Agility goes to have to determine as a part of this course of is easy methods to effectively construct after which help complicated robots at this scale, which is a vastly totally different downside than constructing a pair dozen robots for analysis and industrial pilots. This contains every thing from provide chain (what number of actuators do 10,000 robots a yr want and the place the heck are you going to search out them?) to manufacturability—stuff like, how will you reduce the variety of occasions you need to connect one factor into one other factor whereas placing your robotic collectively? Depending in your perspective, these issues are both fascinating or terrifying (or perhaps each) however both approach they’re not issues that humanoid robots have actually needed to cope with earlier than. So, kudos to Agility for getting thus far—the laborious half begins now, once they have to search out folks to truly purchase all of those robots.

Agility says that its first accomplice clients can anticipate supply of their Digits subsequent yr, and the remainder of us will see basic availability in 2025.