Iván Hernández Dalas: Agility Robotics, maker of Digit humanoid, exploring wheeled robots

This wheeled robot rendering appeared in Agility Robotics’ recent Digit 5 launch video. | Credit: Agility Robotics

When Agility Robotics unveiled Digit 5 last week, one detail near the end of the launch video caught our attention: a humanoid robot on wheels. Why would a company that has spent so much time touting the benefits of legged robots choose to show a wheeled robot?

We reached out to Agility Robotics CEO and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst to ask why. His answer confirmed what we had speculated about on The Robot Report Podcast: Agility was planting a seed about what could come next.

Hurst told The Robot Report that Agility is indeed exploring wheeled robots.

“We’re exploring a range of robot designs and form factors, including wheels, to address different operating environments and customer needs,” Hurst said via email. “As the safety, reliability and capabilities of legged robots continue to advance, I expect they’ll become the right solution for an increasingly broad range of applications. In the meantime, we’re interested in exploring other approaches that could help us bring robotics to more environments sooner.”

We then asked whether Agility envisions a wheeled version of Digit or an entirely new robot with a different name and form factor, such as a one-armed mobile manipulator. There is also no timeline for if and when a wheeled robot would come to market.

“Too early to say!,” Hurst said. “I have guesses and inclinations, but really we’re just starting.”

Legs vs. wheels

The legs-versus-wheels debate has been one of the most common conversations in robotics the last few years. Wheels offer greater stability, simpler mechanics and lower energy consumption in flat, predictable environments. Legs remain valuable in environments designed for humans, where robots need to navigate stairs, obstacles and other uneven terrain.

The form factor takes on added importance as Agility works to commercialize Digit. Agility is going public through a SPAC with Churchill Capital Corp. XI. The SPAC values Agility at $2.5 billion and is expected to generate more than $620 million in gross proceeds.

The SPAC deal provided a first look at Agility’s financials earlier this month. It reported $1.8 million in 2025 revenue against a $140 million operating loss. Agility said in the S-4 filing that it has more than $300 million in multi-year Digit v5 orders from one customer that it expects to fulfill over the coming years. That backlog demonstrate there is significant demand for Digit, but the small amount of recognized revenue also underscores how early Agility and other legged humanoid developers remain in scaling their businesses.

A smart move

Finding more applications and customers is critical for Agility as it works to grow revenue and scale its business. A wheeled robot could give the company another way to bring its technology to market sooner, particularly in environments where the capabilities of a legged robot aren’t ready or necessary.

The is particularly notable for a company whose identity is deeply rooted in legged robotics. Hurst has spent decades researching legged locomotion, and Agility built its business around bipedal robots. But the company has shown it is willing to rethink even fundamental aspects of that design. With Digit 5, for example, Agility moved away from its distinctive backwards-bending knees used on earlier versions of the robot.

That evolution in thinking is a positive sign for Agility. As it works to turn Digit into a larger commercial business, the company appears increasingly willing to adapt its robots to the realities of the market rather than remain wedded to a particular form factor or design philosophy.

Hurst and Agility CTO Pras Velagapudi will both be at RoboBusiness (October 20-21 in Santa Calif.), a robotics development event produced by The Robot Report. Hurst is on the opening keynote, “The Next 20 Years of Robotics,” with Rodney Brooks (co-founder and CTO of Robust AI) and Ken Goldberg (UC Berkeley). Velagapudi is on the Day 2 opening keynote “The State of Humanoids,” with fellow humanoid developers Apptronik and Persona AI, as well dexterous hand developer PSYONIC.

The post Agility Robotics, maker of Digit humanoid, exploring wheeled robots appeared first on The Robot Report.



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