Agility Robotics: Digit v5 is coming soon

Exciting news from Agility Robotics:

- Digit v5 is coming in 2026

- Digit will be the first humanoid working "out of the cage"

- 20-hour humanoids ... they'll be able to work for 20 hours

- swappable hands AKA end effectors

- and much more!

Humanoid robots are advancing fast, but Agility Robotics says the biggest obstacle to large-scale deployment isn't AI, dexterity, or even battery life. It's safety.

In this episode of Humanoid Daily, John Koetsier talks with Agility Robotics' chief business officer Daniel Diez about the next generation of Digit, including the company's plan to deploy what it calls a cooperatively safe humanoid robot that can operate in close proximity to people without traditional safety cages.

They discuss Digit v5, expected for early customers in December 2026, as well as new battery technology designed to enable more than 20 hours of operation per day, rapid charging, interchangeable end effectors, autonomous tool swapping, improved manipulation, and the dynamic stability required for real industrial environments.

Daniel also explains what Agility has learned from commercial deployments, including its work at Schaeffler in South Carolina, why raw robot speed isn't necessarily the most important productivity metric, and how the company thinks about ROI compared with the fully burdened cost of human labor.

Plus, they dig into what cooperative safety could mean for new jobs and industries, how Agility approaches autonomy without routine teleoperation, and what becoming a public company could mean for transparency and accountability across the humanoid robotics industry.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why safety cages are holding humanoid robots back

00:18 Agility Robotics and commercial humanoid deployments

01:03 Competing in a crowded humanoid robotics market

02:13 The real barrier to large-scale humanoid deployment

02:36 When cooperatively safe Digit robots arrive

04:26 Where Digit fits in the humanoid robotics market

05:12 Why Agility started with material handling

06:11 Three major lessons shaping Digit V5

06:41 20+ hour battery life and three-shift operation

07:10 Swappable end effectors and dexterous manipulation

07:55 Why you don't see Digit dancing onstage

08:27 Digit's dynamic stability and actuator technology

09:21 Can humanoid robots operate all day without overheating?

09:58 Digit swapping its own hands and tools

10:38 Why Digit doesn't require routine teleoperation

11:07 What's changing from Digit V4 to V5?

12:25 Robot speed versus real-world productivity

12:55 Digit's deployment at Schaeffler

14:45 Working safely alongside humans

15:55 New industries cooperative safety could unlock

16:57 What becoming a public company changes

18:50 Humanoid robotics valuations and commercial reality

20:21 Agility's AI and control stack

20:46 What to expect from Agility over the next 18 months

21:31 Digit V5 launch timing