Agility Robotics, the Oregon firm which makes humanoid robots for warehouse tasks, today said it has named Peggy Johnson as its new CEO to lead the firm as it expands commercial deployments, broadens its product portfolio, and prepares to manufacture its product at scale.
According to Agility, its bipedal Mobile Manipulation Robot (MMR) called “Digit” comes as companies around the world are facing massive labor shortages and are unable to fill roles in logistics and manufacturing operations. The Digit platform is currently running in pilot programs with Amazon and GXO, the Corvallis, Oregon-based company says.
The firm is now planning to ramp up production at a 70,000-square-foot robot manufacturing facility in Salem, Oregon, called “RoboFab.” Agility anticipates production capacity of hundreds of Digit robots in the first year, with the capability to scale to more than 10,000 robots per year at this location. New RoboFabs can be built and ramped quickly and in a modular fashion to expand capacity, the firm said.
Before joining Agility, Johnson most recently served as CEO of spatial computing company Magic Leap, following executive roles during six years at Microsoft and 24 years at Qualcomm. Agility’s co-founder, Damion Shelton, who has served as CEO since the company’s inception in 2015, will now transition to the role of president be an integral part of Johnson’s leadership team, the firm said.
