Humanoid
Agility Robotics is exploring wheeled robot designs, CEO and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst confirmed to The Robot Report, after a wheeled robot rendering appeared in the company’s recent Digit 5 launch video. The disclosure signals that the maker of the legged Digit humanoid may broaden its form-factor strategy as it works to commercialize the platform.
The wheeled robot appeared near the end of the Digit 5 launch video, prompting questions about why a company that has spent so much time touting the benefits of legged robots would show a wheeled machine. Hurst’s answer confirmed speculation on The Robot Report Podcast that Agility was planting a seed about what could come next.
Agility is indeed exploring wheeled robots, and Hurst said the company is exploring a range of robot designs and form factors, including wheels, to address different operating environments and customer needs.
Hurst framed legged robots as the long-term answer for an increasingly broad range of applications as their safety, reliability and capabilities advance. In the meantime, he said Agility is interested in exploring other approaches that could help bring robotics to more environments sooner. The legs-versus-wheels debate has been a common conversation in robotics in recent years: wheels offer greater stability, simpler mechanics and lower energy consumption in flat, predictable environments, while legs remain valuable in environments designed for humans, where robots need to navigate stairs, obstacles and other uneven terrain.
Agility has not decided whether a wheeled offering would be 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.” The form factor question takes on added importance as Agility works to commercialize Digit and goes public through a SPAC with Churchill Capital.
Source: The Robot Report