Agility's humanoid robot squats to avoid injuring human coworkers

A safety mechanism that lets robots work alongside humans without barriers signals progress in collaborative robotics.

Agility Robotics has equipped its humanoid robot with a squat-and-stop function designed to prevent injury when it detects nearby human coworkers. The capability allows robots to operate outside physical cages and safety barriers, reducing workplace infrastructure costs.

Published 2026-09-15 · significance 58 of 100 (medium) · 1 source

What happened

Agility Robotics has built a safety feature into its humanoid robot that causes it to squat and stop when it detects human proximity. This allows robots to work in shared spaces without the physical cages and safety barriers traditionally required for industrial robotics.

Why it matters

This expands the deployment footprint for humanoid robots in manufacturing and logistics. Reduced safety infrastructure needs make collaborative robotics more economically viable for smaller facilities and complex tasks requiring human-robot interaction.

What changes

Companies can now deploy humanoid robots in unstructured, shared workspaces without retrofitting facilities with expensive safety barriers or relocating human staff.

Involved

Figure AI

Sources

Agility’s new humanoid robot will stop, squat to avoid harming human coworkers — Ars Technica

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