Agility Robotics, maker of Digit humanoid, explores robots on wheels

When Agility Robotics unveiled the 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 showcase a wheeled robot?

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

Hurst said The robot report that Agility is actually exploring wheeled robots.

“We are exploring a range of robot designs and form factors, including wheels, to meet different operating environments and customer needs,” Hurst said via email. “As the safety, reliability and capabilities of legged robots continue to improve, I expect they will become the go-to solution for an ever-wider range of applications. In the meantime, we are interested in exploring other approaches that could help us bring robotics into more environments more quickly.”

We then asked whether Agility envisions a wheeled version of Digit or an entirely new robot with a different name and shape, like a one-armed mobile manipulator. Additionally, there is no timeline for knowing if and when a wheeled robot will hit the market.

“It’s too early to tell!,” Hurst said. “I have some assumptions and inclinations, but really we are just getting started.”

Legs against wheels

The legs versus wheels debate has been one of the most common debates in the field of robotics in recent years. The wheels offer greater stability, simpler mechanics and lower energy consumption in flat and predictable environments. Legs remain valuable in environments designed for humans, where robots must navigate stairs, obstacles and other uneven terrain.

The form factor takes on additional importance as Agility works to commercialize the Digit. Agility will go public through a SPAC with Churchill Capital Corp. 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 revenue of $1.8 million in 2025 against an operating loss of $140 million. Agility said in the S-4 filing that it has more than $300 million in multi-year Digit v5 customer orders that it expects to fulfill in the next few years. This backlog shows that there is significant demand for Digit, but the small amount of recognized revenue also highlights how Agility and other legged humanoid developers continue to expand their businesses.

A smart move

Finding more applications and customers is critical for Agility as it works to increase revenue and scale its business. A wheeled robot could offer 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 needed.

This is especially notable for a company whose identity is deeply rooted in legged robotics. Hurst has spent decades researching leg-based locomotion, and Agility has built its business around bipedal robots. But the company has shown that it is willing to rethink even the fundamental aspects of that project. With Digit 5, for example, Agility has moved away from the characteristic bent-back knees used in previous versions of the robot.

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

Hurst and Agility CTO Pras Velagapudi will both be present at RoboBusiness (October 20-21 in Santa California), a robotics development event produced by The robot report. Hurst will participate in 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 will participate in the opening keynote of Day 2 “The State of Humanoids,” with fellow humanoid developers Apptronik and Persona AI, as well as skilled hands developer PSYONIC.