Corvallis startup Agility Robotics, a company that creates lightweight bipedal robots designed to work alongside humans in warehouses and logistics, announced it has raised $150 million in new investments from long-time partners DCVC and Playground Global, as well as the more recent Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund.
According to OSU Today, the company’s first robot – named “Cassie” – was invented by Dynamic Robotics Laboratory students in the OSU College of Engineering in collaboration with artificial intelligence professor Alan Fern and under the direction of robotics professor Jonathan Hurst. Hurst co-founded Agility Robotics in 2015 as an OSU spin-off business and serves as its Chief Technology Officer.
“Digit,” the name of the robots they subsequently developed and started shipping in 2018, can help companies move packages and unload trucks. They walk in every direction, can bend deeply as well as reach for boxes off shelves, and are able to detect objects – such as co-workers – in their path and maneuver around them.
According to their report, this capital will not only “accelerate the delivery of the next generation of Agility’s robots”, but will also allow them to continue to expand their operations and hire more people. Agility Robotics has offices in Silicon Valley and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, though the company’s manufacturing and most other operations are based in Corvallis.
“We’re deepening our investment in Agility Robotics because their robots solve the labor shortages plaguing businesses and wreaking havoc on supply chains,” said Matt Ocko, Co-Managing Partner of DCVC in the report. “Agility’s robots are designed to free people from repetitive or unpleasant tasks, allowing them to take on the more fulfilling work they can do better than any robot.”
Agility and the Future of Robotics
Hurst writes on the company’s website that he is thrilled with the investment as a giant leap toward materializing their vision of “a future where people will work and live side-by-side with robots, on our terms and in our environments.”
He continues that most of today’s useful robots are single-purpose machines, like dishwashers or automated forklifts. Hurst sees the future of robotics as “a fleet of robots that can do many things and flex to demand and workflow needs will be more useful than a fleet of single-purpose robots.”
“Unprecedented consumer and corporate demand have created an extraordinary need for robots to support people in the workplace,” said Damion Shelton, CEO of Agility Robotics, in the report. “With this investment, Agility can ramp up the delivery of robots to fill roles where there’s an unmet need.”
By Stacey Newman Weldon
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