Toyota Canada and Agility Robotics are taking humanoid robots out of the lab and onto the shop floor.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) has struck a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics to deploy Digit, the company’s bipedal humanoid, in live production after a successful pilot. The initial rollout is intentionally small—seven units have been allocated, with three entering operations first—so the partners can measure how well the machines handle repetitive, physically demanding tasks in manufacturing, supply chain and logistics while keeping safety and worker welfare front and center.
What’s happening, and who’s involved
– The deal pairs TMMC, Toyota’s Canadian manufacturing arm, with Agility Robotics, the maker of Digit.
– The pilot focuses on constrained deployments to validate safety, fit and value in actual production conditions rather than in simulated or lab settings.
Why this matters
Humanoid robots are no longer just an experiment. For automakers and other manufacturers, repetitive manual work creates bottlenecks and raises injury risk. Digit’s humanlike form and mobility let it pick up container transfers, interact with conveyors and perform other material-handling chores without forcing big changes to existing stations. If the machines can reliably reduce injuries and free human staff for more complex tasks, the business case becomes compelling.
How Digit will be used
– Tasks: pick-and-place, container transfers, basic conveyor interaction and other material-handling duties.
– Location: initial operations will take place at the Woodstock assembly plant, staged to run alongside human workers with minimal disruption.
– Fleet management: Agility’s cloud platform, Agility Arc, will provide remote deployment control, real-time monitoring and over‑the‑air updates so multiple units can be managed centrally.
Safety, compliance and workforce impact
Toyota emphasizes that the pilot is intended to enhance employee safety and support continuous improvement. That means retraining, job redesign and clear, documented risk assessments will be part of the rollout. Regulators and unions are expected to scrutinize the program’s safety records, upskilling plans and near‑miss reporting. Key safety features include sensor suites, collision-avoidance measures, geofencing, speed limits and automatic stop functions. The goal is a predictable, auditable trail of performance and incidents that can be shared with auditors and insurers.
What will determine success
This deployment will live or die on metrics. The partners will be watching uptime, cycle time, error rates, mean time between interventions, injury statistics and total cost of ownership. They plan to publish results to inform suppliers, regulators and labour representatives as the pilot proceeds. Transparent data on those measures will decide whether Digit’s use stays confined to a few tasks or scales across other plants and use cases.
Operational approach and scaling
Toyota and Agility have chosen a staged, compatibility-first strategy. Because Digit’s form factor mirrors human movement, it can slot into many existing workflows without costly retrofits—an important way to limit integration risk and preserve operational continuity. The pilots will show whether that mechanical fit translates into lower integration time and fewer layout changes. Software updates, fleet learning and local feedback loops are expected to incrementally improve performance without major downtime.
The broader picture
Agility already works with several large firms exploring humanoids for logistics and production. This TMMC pilot sits inside a cautious industry shift toward practical, human-centered automation: remove the most repetitive and hazardous tasks and let people focus on judgment‑heavy, higher‑value work. Regulators and insurers will demand evidence—documented incident rates, safety audits and training records—before any wider deployment.
Practical next steps
– Extended trials and phased unit rollouts
– Third‑party safety audits and transparent reporting
– Operator training and procedure updates
– Monitoring of KPIs to guide investment and scaling decisions It’s a measured experiment: small, evidence-driven, and safety-first. If Digit proves reliable, safe and cost-effective in these limited roles, the pilot could become a blueprint for broader, carefully governed adoption of humanoid robots in manufacturing.