Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada has contracted seven humanoid robots to work at its Canadian factory following a year-long pilot program.

The robots will operate under a robots-as-a-service agreement at a plant producing RAV4 SUVs.

The robots, known as Digit, are built by Agility Robotics and are designed to function in industrial environments without direct human interaction.

At the facility, the robots will unload containers of auto parts from automated warehouse vehicles.

Toyota said the deployment aims to improve efficiency and reduce repetitive physical tasks for workers.

While the number of robots is modest, industry experts note that real-world humanoid deployments remain rare due to the complexity of integrating robots into active workflows.

Agility Robotics is among the few companies successfully moving humanoids out of laboratories and into operational settings.

Its Digits are already in use by logistics firms such as GXO, Schaeffler, and Amazon, managed through the company’s cloud-based Arc software platform.

The company is also developing a next-generation robot designed to safely operate alongside human workers.

As competition intensifies, other firms including Figure AI, Tesla, and Boston Dynamics are testing humanoid robots in manufacturing and logistics environments worldwide.

Source: TechCrunch