According to Ford’s press release released at the end of 2019, the main purpose of the Agility Robotics collaboration was to explore new ideas in the field of electronics – especially in terms of delivery.
The Digit robots purchased by Ford were actually the first models sold by Agility, fresh off the assembly line, so there wasn’t much to test. Ford’s plan was to put the Digit parts on a self-contained pickup truck and, if the recipient wasn’t home, have the part delivered the last 50 miles between the car and the front door.
In addition to physical reproduction, Ford wanted to test Digit’s ability to adapt to self-delivery vehicles. Both devices featured wireless connectivity services that, among other things, were able to share cloud-based maps and image formats to facilitate more efficient delivery.