Humanoid Robot Factory Opening in Oregon

Agility Robotics is opening a humanoid robotics factory in Salem, Oregon, for the mass production of its humanoid robot Digit.

The 70,000-square-foot facility, dubbed RoboFab, is said to be the first of its kind, dedicated to mass-producing commercial robots. The site is expected to produce hundreds of Digit robots in the first year, with the capacity to scale to more than 10,000 of the robots annually. 

Digit is designed to work alongside a human workforce in factories and industrial sites. Use cases include bulk material handling within warehouses and distribution centers. Some of the newly-produced Digit robots will also work in the new factory, moving, loading and unloading totes.

Construction on the facility began last year and the new site is set to open its doors later this year.

“The opening of our factory marks a pivotal moment in the history of robotics: the beginning of the mass production of commercial humanoid robots,” said Damion Shelton, Agility Robotics’ CEO. “We built Digit to solve difficult problems in today’s workforce like injuries, burnout, high turnover and unfillable labor gaps, with the ultimate vision of enabling humans to be more human. 

“When you’re building new technology to make society better, the most important milestone is when you’re able to mass produce that technology at a scale where it can have a real, widespread impact.”

Related:Agility Robotics’ Digit Gets Face, Hands

The facility’s launch puts Agility leagues ahead of competitors including Tesla and Apptronik, both of which have not yet reached mass production phases for their respective humanoid robots, Optimus and Apollo.

“Not only are we building the world’s first factory for humanoid robots, but we’re doing so in the United States about 30 miles from our engineering center which is fantastic for setting us up to scale quickly,” said Aindrea Campbell, Agility Robotics' COO. “By establishing RoboFab as a state-of-the-art manufacturing hub in Salem, Oregon, we are not only accelerating the development and deployment of advanced robotic systems but also cultivating innovation and creating high-skilled job opportunities.”