Start with the complete assembly. Follow it from the hand that meets the world to the clamp that supports it—and into the mechanisms, signals and sensing that must work together.
Hand to arm · Three-dimensional study
One continuous assembly, from fingertips to the table. Explore the complete arm, then separate its parts to inspect the construction.
Development study. Motion illustrates joint geometry; working tendon control and physical validation remain unfinished. Exploded view omits the two modeled wrist tendon strands; rigid guides and the passive electrical harness remain visible. Reassemble to inspect the actual modeled routes.
A hand needs reach, support and a way to return information. The arm brings those requirements into one development platform, anchored to a suitable surface while we study the harder problem of useful manipulation.
Its two connected sections have different roles. The upper arm positions and supports. The forearm carries the finger drives close to the hand. Between them, the elbow turns reach into a useful workspace.
Explore the engineering
Four articulated fingers and an opposing thumb create the starting point for varied grasps. Replaceable contact surfaces make touch, wear and service part of the same design.
The hand keeps its original proportions and mechanical appearance. Tendons are intended to transmit forces from the forearm; complete routing, useful thumb clearance and loaded grasping remain under development.
Explore the hand programmeStructure, force and information cross the wrist by different paths. The flange carries loads. Tendons move the fingers. Insulated conductors carry power and sensor data.
The current wrist is fixed. The selected pose leaves gaps at both middle-finger tendon terminals; all forty-two end-to-end routes remain unverified. Four modeled functional conductors—protected palm supply, ground, CAN high and CAN low—join passive boards, with a separate shield drain. Active boards and moving-wrist compensation are unfinished.
Twenty-one custom finger-drive cartridges sit behind the hand. A compact enclosure and removable panels give the lower arm a continuous form while keeping its mechanisms accessible.
Motor, transmission, tendon take-up and sensing must fit together inside that envelope. The current drive geometry does not yet satisfy the one-second loaded grasp and sustained-use target. Complete 42-strand routing and common-length compensation remain open.
Inside custom actuation
The elbow changes the reach of the arm while the hand concentrates on contact. Rounded joint covers continue the form of the upper and lower arm around the transmission.
Custom planetary transmission geometry sits inside the elbow and shoulder. The interactive reach study shows prescribed motion and source gear ratios; strength, braking, cable flex and protected powered operation remain unqualified.
The upper arm joins shoulder and elbow. Its structure must carry the hand’s loads while leaving a protected route for power, control and feedback.
A hollow passage is only space for a connection. The final harness still requires retained connectors, strain relief, service loops and motion clearance through both joints. The structural load case must include the selected drives and the object in the hand.
An accessible clamp anchors the arm to a suitable edge. Its sculpted housing, adjustment grips and centered support make the base part of the assembly’s design.
The current geometry considers a nominal 20–50 mm surface edge. Capacity depends on the material, edge condition, contact pads and arm posture. Surface compatibility, clamp force and loaded stability need physical verification.
Vision provides context before a grasp. Touch and joint feedback describe what happens once the hand meets an object. Both must be synchronized with the arm’s movement.
The camera architecture uses a rigid forearm mount that moves with the arm. Optical calibration, motion blur and the physical sensor installation remain development work.
Intelligence for the physical worldIntended architecture / Installation in development
Commands travel toward the hand. Position, contact and fault information travel back. The system needs both an electrical network and mechanical force transmission to become a working arm.
The current sensor wiring contract defines 123 functional segments: four modeled at the wrist and 119 still unrouted. Motor power stages, complete drive feedback, firmware and the rest of the arm harness remain unfinished. This is not the total robot wire count.
Explore drive and control developmentThe target is manipulation of objects up to 1 kg, about one second per grasp and sustained use. CAD, circuit checks and offline control tests help us develop that system. They do not yet demonstrate a buildable or powered arm.
Our route from design to evidenceThe case studies belong to a shared system. A change to one part affects the others.
The clamp, shoulder, upper arm, elbow and forearm carry the hand and its loads.
Explanatory diagram · Select a connection to inspect its role.