Humanoid Scott says Digit 5 shuffles, not walks
A clip buried in an Agility video about data security is the first look at the new robot moving under its own power.
Agility's new Digit 5 finally turned up on video moving under its own power, in a two second clip buried inside an Agility video about data security. Humanoid Scott spotted it, credited @DomresRyan for flagging it, and says what it shows is a shuffling gait rather than walking.
His distinction is the technical one. True bipedal walking needs a swing phase, at least one foot off the ground for part of the cycle, with single support and double support alternating. If neither foot ever leaves the ground and the motion slides, that is a shuffle or, generously, a static walk.
What he says the clip shows
Scott says the knees drift toward each other, almost knocking, while one foot pronates inward mid stride and rotates toward the midline instead of tracking straight. He reads that as a hip flexure axis sitting at an anhedral angle, tilted roughly twenty degrees downward instead of horizontal, which would mean a simple forward swing also introduces abduction and rotation that the control policy has to fight every step.
He ties the crouched, weight shifting motion to mass. Digit 5 is a 284 lb humanoid with a high rear mounted backpack, which pushes the center of mass back and up and makes a one leg balance loss expensive. The safe policy is to never fully commit weight to one foot, so you get a shuffle. Scott suspects the clip was never meant to ship until the policy improved, which is why it was absent from the launch video and present in an obscure one.
The second opinion
Marwa ElDiwiny went through the same design and footage with Scott and says Digit does not actually take a step in the material they reviewed. She also says some footage appears to be CGI rather than a physical demonstration, and notes speed was never mentioned in the specs. Her framing is careful. None of it means the technology does not work, it means there are things the demo does not let you judge.
This is two people reading short clips, not a test. Agility has not responded, and ElDiwiny says the company is welcome to correct anything they got wrong. The earlier Digit 5 reveal claimed 22.7 kg lifts and swapped the bird legs for forward facing ones.
Well, at least we know if can move under its own power now.
One thing we noticed: Digit doesn’t actually take a step in the footage we reviewed.