The creators of the bipedal robot Digit are bringing the world’s first factory for humanoid robots to Salem and say they will soon have the capacity to produce 10,000 robots a year.
Agility Robotics, a Corvallis-based company, announced the opening of RoboFab Monday.
Construction of the 70,000-square-foot facility began last year and is set to open in late 2023. Located at 4698 Truax Drive SE in southeast Salem, the site will be near other industrial hubs like the Amazon Fulfillment Center.
In 2022, Agility Robotics was one of the first recipients of Amazon’s $1 billion Industrial Innovation Fund.
Damion Shelton, Agility Robotics’ co-founder and CEO, said the opening of the Salem facility marks a pivotal moment in the history of robots: the beginning of the mass production of commercial humanoid robots.
“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,” Shelton said. “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.”
Robots, humans working together
At full capacity, the company said, the factory will employ 500 human workers in Salem. They will work alongside the bipedal humanoid Digit robots.
Company officials said they anticipate production capacity of hundreds of Digit robots in the first year, with the capability to scale to more than 10,000 robots per year.
The robots already work in Agility’s customer sites moving, loading and unloading totes.
“Digit is designed from the ground up to go where people go and do useful work, safely, in spaces designed for people,” company officials said. “Because so many tasks are designed around human workflows, Digit’s human-centric design enables multi-purpose utility. Initial applications include bulk material handling within warehouses and distribution centers.”
Customers in the company’s Agility Partner Program can expect to receive the first Digit robots in 2024, according to the company. Digits is scheduled to be available in the general market in 2025.
Why Agility Robotics chose Oregon
Agility Robotics COO Aindrea Campbell, who previously held senior positions at Ford and Apple, is leading the launch of the new factory.
“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,” Campbell said. “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.”
Producing the robot at scale, she added, will change the future of work.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at [email protected], call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter at @wmwoodworth
