Agility Robotics and Boston Dynamics have co-joined an ASTM International technical committee tasked with developing the first formal safety standards for humanoid robots operating in commercial environments alongside human workers.
The committee, designated F48 (Advanced/Intelligent Systems), has been expanded to include a new sub-committee specifically focused on bipedal humanoid systems — reflecting the recognition that existing robot safety standards (primarily ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066 for collaborative robots) were designed for stationary industrial arms and are inadequate for mobile, bipedal systems.
Why Standards Matter Now
The timing reflects the industry's inflection point. With Agility's Digit deployed in Amazon fulfillment centers, Boston Dynamics' Atlas in pilot programs, and Tesla Optimus generating intense public interest, the question of regulatory frameworks has become urgent. Insurance companies, enterprise customers, and government regulators need clear standards before they can sanction widespread deployment.
"We've been operating in a regulatory vacuum," Agility CEO Peggy Johnson said at the ASTM panel. "That's fine for R&D. It's not fine when you're deploying 100 robots in a fulfillment center with 2,000 human workers. We need standards, and frankly, we want them — standards create customer confidence."
What the Standards Will Cover
The F48 sub-committee is initially focusing on three areas:
Contact force limits: How hard can a humanoid robot strike a human in a collision before it causes injury? This requires both biomechanical research and testing protocols, since a moving 70kg humanoid has very different collision dynamics than a stationary robot arm.
Emergency stop requirements: What combination of hardware and software must be present to guarantee a humanoid can stop within a defined distance and time? Current collaborative robot standards require specific force/torque thresholds; the sub-committee must define equivalents for mobile bipeds.
Operational domain restrictions: Which environments are humanoids approved to operate in without additional safety infrastructure? A humanoid in a fenced-off zone requires different certification than one working directly alongside people.
Industry Competition and Cooperation
The participation of both Agility and Boston Dynamics — normally fierce competitors — in the same standards body reflects the shared interest in creating a regulatory framework that legitimizes commercial deployment. Companies that help write safety standards also, not coincidentally, have influence over what those standards look like.
Several other humanoid companies including Figure AI and 1X Technologies have observer status at the committee. International equivalents are watching closely: the European Machinery Regulation and Japan's industrial robot safety guidelines will likely need similar humanoid-specific amendments.
The first set of interim guidelines from the ASTM F48 sub-committee is expected in late 2026, with formal standards published in 2027 or 2028.