Humanoid robots designed for warehouse work are shedding their safety cages and entering shared human spaces, marking a fundamental shift in how factories and fulfillment centers operate. Agility Robotics' Digit V5 will ship in December with the ability to work alongside humans without physical barriers, while XPENG's Iron humanoid recently walked off an automated production line under its own power, demonstrating that these machines are ready for real-world deployment at scale.

What's Changing About Warehouse Humanoid Robots?

For years, humanoid robots in warehouses operated inside locked enclosures, separated from human workers by metal cages and safety barriers. These physical constraints protected workers but consumed valuable floor space and disrupted workflow efficiency. Agility's Chief Business Officer Daniel Diez explained that eliminating cages opens doors to retail and pharmaceutical facilities that cannot spare dedicated robot zones.

The Digit V5 represents a major leap forward in this transition. The robot now carries a 50-pound payload, up from 35 pounds in previous models, and its arm reach extends to 7.2 feet. More importantly, it can run for roughly 20 hours on a single charge, covering three full work shifts without needing a battery swap. The robot uses NVIDIA's IGX Thor computer and the Halos safety platform, which monitors humans through cameras and sensors before the robot's hips and knees move, ensuring safe interaction in shared spaces.

Agility tested this safety system rigorously, including pulling the floor out from under the robot to verify it could recover without endangering nearby workers. The company has already accumulated over 65,000 hours of operational data across nine customer sites, providing real-world evidence that these machines can work reliably in warehouse environments.

How Are Companies Scaling Humanoid Robot Production?

• Automated Manufacturing Lines: XPENG built the first fully automated production line for humanoid robots, with more than 80% of fundamental manufacturing steps automated. The company adapted quality systems from its electric vehicle factories but had to adjust tolerances to meet the precision requirements of humanoid robotics.
• On-Board Computing Power: XPENG's Iron includes three custom-designed Turing chips delivering 2,250 TOPS (tera operations per second), allowing the robot to run its Physical AI base model directly on the device rather than relying on remote servers. This reduces latency and eliminates the need for human remote control.
• Extended Battery Technology: Both companies are deploying high-energy solid-liquid hybrid batteries that enable extended work shifts. Digit V5 achieves 20-hour runtime, while XPENG plans to produce Iron units by the hundreds by the end of 2026.
• Tool Standardization: Digit V5 now uses a standard ISO flange on its arm ends, allowing it to pick from existing industrial gripper and tool catalogs. Agility has already demonstrated robots switching tools autonomously and plans to fully automate tool swaps in the near future.

What Do the Numbers Tell Us About Market Demand?

The financial backing and order pipelines suggest warehouse humanoids are moving from experimental to mainstream. Agility is merging with Churchill Capital Corp XI in a deal that values the company at $2.5 billion and brings in $620 million in capital. Foxconn led a private investment round that contributed approximately $200 million, while Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 are among the investors on Agility's cap table.

Customer adoption is accelerating. Existing Digit robots have transported over 100,000 totes in a single Georgia location operated by GXO, and major manufacturers including Schaeffler, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Mercado Libre, and Amazon are deploying or expanding their fleets. Agility has already secured multi-year orders for Digit V5 worth $300 million, representing roughly 1,000 units from a single anonymous buyer.

XPENG's ambitions are even more aggressive. The company aims to produce over 1,000 Iron units per month by the end of 2026, with a long-term goal of selling one million units by 2030. Iron will begin with limited deployment in XPENG's own stores and campuses later this year, expand across China in 2027, and roll out to international markets by the same year.

Why Does Cage-Free Operation Matter for Warehouses?

The ability to work without physical barriers solves a critical business problem. Warehouses and fulfillment centers operate on tight margins, and dedicated robot zones consume floor space that could otherwise store inventory or facilitate human movement. Removing cages also opens humanoid robots to industries that previously could not accommodate them, including retail stores and pharmaceutical facilities with strict space constraints.

Safety remains paramount. Digit V5's sensor suite and software continuously monitor the environment and predict human movement before the robot acts. This real-time awareness, combined with rigorous stress testing, allows the robot to operate safely in dynamic human environments rather than static, controlled factory cells.

The shift also reflects a maturation in robotics engineering. XPENG's Iron stands 178 centimeters tall and weighs 70 kilograms, with 76 degrees of freedom in its body and an additional 21 in each hand. A flexible lattice framework gives it a human-like appearance while meeting safety standards. This level of sophistication, combined with autonomous production capabilities, signals that humanoid robots are transitioning from prototypes to manufactured products.

By the end of 2026, Agility will complete its merger and begin trading under the ticker AGLT. The company plans to use the capital to fulfill existing orders, scale V5 production, and expand its 60,000-square-foot Physical AI hub in Fremont, California, where roughly 200 technical and field workers will teach robots in environments similar to their eventual workplaces.