AGCO Tests Agility Digit for Heavy Machinery Manufacturing in Kansas

Agricultural equipment maker AGCO has launched a pilot program evaluating Digit, the bipedal humanoid developed by Agility Robotics, inside its primary manufacturing facility in Hesston, Kansas. The initiative focuses on deploying the bipedal machine into industrial workflows characterized by repetitive motions and elevated physical strain for human line workers.

The Hesston site produces large-scale agricultural equipment, an environment with irregular part geometries, high payload demands, and narrow clearance zones that often defeat conventional automated guided vehicles. AGCO is tasking Digit with repetitive component handling and material shuttling between fabrication cells and final assembly stations.

For Agility Robotics, the partnership marks a deliberate push to expand beyond distribution and e-commerce sortation hubs. While early trials with logistics operators proved Digit could transfer standard totes between conveyors and shelves, industrial machinery assembly requires handling higher part variation and operating directly alongside industrial equipment.

Operations managers should watch how Digit handles cycle times and mechanical durability in a heavy manufacturing context. If the pilot demonstrates that bipedal platforms can safely take over subassembly transport without facility redesign, AGCO's deployment could provide a blueprint for heavy discrete manufacturers considering automation for ergonomically taxing roles.