1X Technologies designs humanoid hand to "match or surpass human capability"

1X Technologies introduced a new tendon-driven robotic hand for its Neo humanoid platform, the company announced. The hand has 25 degrees of freedom, including 22 fully actuated degrees of freedom in the fingers and palm and three at the wrist, and will ship on every Neo robot. It features a tendon-drive system with motors located in the forearm, force-controlled and backdrivable fingers, tactile sensing across fingertips and surfaces, IP68 waterproofing and food-safe materials. The company said it has capacity to produce 10,000 hands this year. Founder and CEO Bernt Børnich said the goal was never a hand that just looks impressive on paper and that the hands are the culmination of intensive engineering focused on making humanoids truly useful. He said they were built to match or surpass human capability across every dimension that matters and that with these hands Neo crosses a critical threshold. The company said the design allows the hand to remain lightweight while producing enough force for tool use, lifting, carrying, opening doors, pushing carts and handling small objects. The hand also includes tactile sensing that measures normal force, contact location and shear, allowing the robot to detect slipping and adjust its grip in real time. A video posted by 1X shows the hand assembling Legos, picking up screws and coins, installing light bulbs, using a screwdriver, rotating objects in-hand and zipping a jacket. The company said hundreds of hands have already come off a scalable production line and all hands are made in-house.