Agility Robotics and FORT Robotics sign safety partnership for Digit 5

Agility Robotics and FORT Robotics have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand their existing safety collaboration, focusing on the safety infrastructure of Digit 5, Agility's next-generation humanoid robot.

The partnership builds on a multi-year relationship that began with a single custom hardware component and has grown into a three-part safety architecture comprising a safety pendant, on-robot communications, and off-robot interfaces. The companies jointly developed an Offboard Safety Bridge designed to connect Digit with external safety systems, extending the robot's safety coverage beyond its onboard systems.

The agreement also establishes a broader operating framework covering joint hardware development, solutions engineering, regulatory compliance, and deployment support as Digit 5 enters commercial environments including warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and logistics operations.

Agility's previous Digit models have logged more than 65,000 hours of operation and have been deployed at customer sites including Schaeffler, GXO, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Digit 5 will include an onboard Safe Human Detection system, and the pendant will provide customers with a manual override capability during setup, maintenance, or unexpected situations.

"Every layer we've added with FORT has made Digit's safety system more resilient, not just more redundant," said Pras Velagapudi, CTO at Agility Robotics. "The Offboard Safety Bridge is a good example of what this partnership is really about: building safety infrastructure that works whether the input is coming from onboard the robot, or from the environment around it."

Samuel Reeves, Founder and CEO of FORT Robotics, said: "Physical AI only earns trust when the safety layer around it is as capable and as accountable as the robot itself."

FORT Robotics is pursuing a Nasdaq listing through a business combination with Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: NTWO). Agility Robotics is separately pursuing a business combination with Churchill Capital Corp XI, for which a registration statement has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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