Watch Amazon Humanoid Robot Working at Seattle Facility

Amazon shared an update on its humanoid robot deployment at a facility in Seattle, during a media day event. 

The retailer is deploying Agility Robotics humanoid robot Digit at its robotics research and development facility just south of Seattle as part of a test project for possible wide-scale rollout. 

At the recent media day, employees and industry members were able to see Digit in action moving containers from one area of the site to another 

The demonstration marks an expansion of Amazon’s partnership with Agility, which is already part of the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund. 

“We are very excited about the Amazon relationship and what's transpired recently,” said Rich Bohne, Agility’s chief commercial officer. “I'm very excited that we get the opportunity to have real-world experience watching Digit do real work in a facility like Amazon's.

“The partnership allows us to not only work with them closely on expansion and moving through different use cases but also allows us a great opportunity to expand our knowledge of working in warehouses.”

Agility said the announcement comes as it looks to expand its footprint in the e-commerce industry.

Amazon announced it would be deploying Digit at its research facility last October, to “support workplace safety and help Amazon deliver to customers faster.”

Related:Amazon to Test Agility Robotics’ Humanoid Robot

“We believe that there is a big opportunity to scale a mobile manipulator solution, such as Digit, which can work collaboratively with employees,” Amazon said in a statement. 

“Our initial use for this technology will be to help employees with tote recycling, a highly repetitive process of picking up and moving empty totes once inventory has been completely picked out of them.”