Agility and FORT Robotics sign memorandum of understanding on Digit 5 safety
SUMMARY
Agility Robotics and FORT Robotics signed a memorandum of understanding on 1 October 2026 for a partnership on the safety infrastructure of Digit 5, which Agility describes as its next-generation humanoid robot for cooperatively safe work.
The agreement is meant to deepen a multi-year engagement between the two companies. That engagement started with a single custom hardware component and has grown into an integrated safety architecture in three parts: a safety pendant, on-robot communications, and off-robot interfaces that connect Digit with external safety systems. FORT and Agility developed the off-robot interface jointly. It is designed to extend Agility's cooperative-safety approach beyond the robot, enhancing the onboard safety architecture already planned for Digit 5.
Earlier this year Agility engaged FORT to deliver the pendant sled, a custom-built holder for Digit's tablet that integrates emergency stop and enabling-device functionality. Agility says Digit 5, like Digit 4, will be capable of operating autonomously during normal work. The pendant will be used to monitor the robot and give customers a redundant manual override during setup, maintenance or an unexpected situation. Agility says it will complement Digit 5's anticipated onboard Safe Human Detection system, and that Digit 5 will be built on a safety architecture spanning safe human detection, safety cues and safe motion control.
The partnership will also establish a broader operating framework for how the two companies work together as Digit 5 begins deployment. Agility says this will include joint hardware development, solutions engineering, regulatory compliance and deployment support. Agility says Digit 5's predecessors have logged more than 65,000 hours of operation, with deployments at Schaeffler, GXO and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. The release describes an MoU and refers to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements as still to come.
Drafted with AI assistance from the source and reviewed by WBH. Follow the source link for the full text.
WHY IT MATTERS
EDITORIALThe release says humanoid robots are increasingly expected to work in spaces designed for people, a shift that depends on safety systems able to operate reliably both on the robot and in its environment. The jointly developed off-robot interface is designed to extend Agility's cooperative-safety approach beyond the robot itself.