Agility Robotics Explores Wheeled Robots as Digit 5 Launches and SPAC Deal Nears

Agility Robotics confirmed on September 25 that it is exploring wheeled robot designs, a notable signal from one of commercial humanoid development's most prominent companies. Jonathan Hurst, Agility's Co-Founder and Chief Robot Officer, told The Robot Report via email: "We're exploring a range of robot designs and form factors, including wheels, to address different operating environments and customer needs. 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." The disclosure came days after Agility unveiled Digit 5, its most capable bipedal robot yet, with a $2.5 billion SPAC merger advancing in the background.

Digit 5 Arrives With Cycloidal Legs and Five Times the Battery Endurance

The wheeled confirmation followed Agility's September 15 Digit 5 launch. The robot stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 284 pounds, reaches 7.2 feet, and is rated for 50-pound lift cycles.

The most significant engineering change is in the legs. Digit 5 replaces prior actuators with cycloidal units, which use an eccentrically rotating disc against a ring gear to deliver high torque in a compact, shock-tolerant package — more impact-resistant than harmonic drives, which matters for a bipedal system absorbing ground reaction forces through thousands of steps per shift. Battery endurance improved from a 2:1 to a 10:1 run-to-charge ratio, a fivefold gain with direct implications for per-shift uptime. The gripper received an ISO-standard mounting flange for swappable end-effectors. Digit 5 carries CE marking and is scheduled for early customer access in H1 2027.

Wheeled Platforms Offer Better Economics on Flat Warehouse Floors

Hurst's statement makes the strategic logic explicit: Agility sees bipedal locomotion as optimal for some operating environments but not all, and describes the company's goal as bringing robotics to more environments — including those where wheeled mobility may outperform walking.

Bipedal locomotion justifies its complexity when stairs, ramps, or human-scale workspaces are involved. In flat warehouse environments, those advantages largely disappear. Wheeled platforms offer higher energy efficiency, simpler drivetrains, and faster floor speeds, and have operated commercially in warehouses for years while bipedal humanoids remain in early rollout. Agility has not disclosed specs, target applications, or a timeline for any wheeled product.

Stretch Is Deployed; Apollo 2 Added a Wheeled Option in June

The wheeled warehouse robot market is not empty. Boston Dynamics' Stretch — a wheeled base with a high-reach robotic arm — is commercially deployed in logistics facilities including trailer unloading operations at DHL, giving it a real-world performance baseline that any Agility wheeled product would need to match.

More directly, Apptronik announced on June 30, 2026 that its Apollo 2 platform would offer a wheeled base configuration alongside its bipedal version, targeting the same form factor flexibility Agility is now endorsing.

$1.8 Million in 2025 Revenue Against $140 Million in Losses

Agility's financials add urgency. The company reported $1.8 million in 2025 revenue against $140 million in operating losses. Its SPAC merger, which targets approximately $620 million in proceeds at a $2.5 billion valuation, is intended to fund that runway. More than $300 million in committed order backlog exists, but that converts to revenue only when robots reach customers and operate reliably. Amazon, an Agility investor through its Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, evaluates multiple robot form factors across its fulfillment network — a relationship with both commercial opportunity and competitive complexity.

Execution on Two Platforms Is the Unresolved Question

Agility's disclosure suggests the commercial humanoid category may be moving toward form factor portfolios — bipedal for human-environment access, wheeled for flat-floor throughput. Apptronik is already pursuing that dual strategy. Agility appears to be following.

What remains unresolved is whether the company can execute on a second hardware platform while ramping Digit 5, closing a $2.5 billion SPAC, and fulfilling GXO commitments. The next disclosure — actual specs and a timeline — will determine whether the wheeled program is a product or a hedge.