Customize-Your-Joy Hand: A User-Oriented, Cost-Effective 22-DOF Platform for Future Human-Robot Community
Jin Chai, Li Yanghong, Erbao Dong
AI summary
Problem
Current humanoid dexterous hands face a fundamental trade-off between high biomimicry, lightweight design, personalized customization, and low cost, limiting their accessibility for prosthetic users and robotic researchers.
Approach
The authors designed a 22-DOF tendon-driven hand using a novel controllable tendon mechanism and parametric 3D modeling, enabling reconfigurable transmission, hybrid actuation, and rapid user-oriented customization.
Key results
- 100% success rate in Kapandji Test and GRASP taxonomy
- Sub-millimeter motion repeatability (~0.7 mm) and 4 kg per finger load capacity
- Reconfigurable tendon routing and hybrid actuator integration for customizable degrees of freedom
- Under $60 structural hardware cost and under $200 total prototype cost via 3D printing
Why it matters
It bridges the gap between high dexterity and affordability, offering an open-source, scalable platform for personalized prosthetics and advanced robotic manipulation research.
Abstract
Humanoid dexterous hands have significant po- tential in prosthetics, service robotics, and high-performance manipulation. However, existing designs often struggle to bal- ance the challenging requirements of lightweight design, high biomimicry, personalized customization, and low cost. To ad- dress these challenges, we present the CYJ Hand (Custom- ize-Your-Joy Hand), an innovative 22-DOF humanoid dexter- ous hand. Featuring a highly biomimetic structure, the CYJ system weighs only 750 grams(forearm included). Its modular design supports user-oriented customization while simplifying assembly, maintenance, and functional expansion. Inspired by Da Vinci’s mechanics, the CYJ Hand integrates a novel, con- trollable tendon mechanism that allows for reconfigurable ten- don routing and actuation system to meet diverse needs. Con- structed with 3D printing and affordable commercial materials, the hardware cost for the CYJ Hand structure (excluding actu- ators) is under $60. Experimental results demonstrate that the CYJ Hand achieves a 100% success rate in both the Kapandji Test and GRASP taxonomy, and further exhibits dynamic grasping, in-hand manipulation, sub-millimeter motion re- peatability (~0.7 mm), and reliable load-bearing performance, validating its exceptional dexterity and biomimetic design. With its comprehensive advantages and innovations, the CYJ Hand provides a versatile platform for the future applications and research in personalized prosthetics and dexterous robotic ma- nipulation, bridging the gap between high dexterity and acces- sibility in humanoid robotics. Related files and methods are open-sourced at GitHub repository.