Human-Level Hands? 1X Just Gave Humanoid Robot Neo Something Close

Robotics company 1X announced new hands for its humanoid robot Neo featuring 25 actuated degrees of freedom and tendon-driven motion that the company says provides near human-level dexterity, strength and reliability. The hands operate at low gear ratios of roughly 5-to-1 to 15-to-1, making every joint simultaneously a motor and a sensor. This backdrivability allows force to flow out and information to flow back, a capability 1X calls force transparency. The hands include high-resolution tactile sensing across fingertips measuring pressure, contact location and shear force. They can lift a 20-pound kettlebell and perform delicate tasks such as picking grapes off stems, installing a light bulb and picking up a screw from the floor. The hands are IP68 sealed and washable, allowing Neo to clean them after tasks like food preparation. 1X said the hands have completed millions of test cycles with wrist joints proven past two million cycles under load. Head of product design Dar Sleeper said Neo will ship with more hardware capability than the AI currently knows how to use, enabling over-the-air updates to increase capability over time. The company positions hands as the primary mechanism for useful work in the home.