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AMAZING HAND: A FULLY 3D-PRINTED ROBOTIC HAND

A tendon-free, fully printable four-finger robot hand — 8 degrees of freedom, light in the hand, and open-sourced by the team now inside HuggingFace.

by Pollen Robotics (HuggingFace)

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

Robotics3D-printing

difficulty
●●●○○
time
a weekend or two
license
Apache-2.0
repo
repo ACTIVE2,259 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

  • 3D printer + filament — printable parts — files are in the repo
  • Dev board / microcontroller — runs the project firmware
  • Soldering kit + basic tools — one-time buy, serves every future build

Partner

Reach your Pi from anywhere — Remote desktop to the machine running this build — no port forwarding, works right from the browser.Try Getscreen.me
Videos
1

COMPAREE VERDICT

This is the printable robot hand we'd actually recommend building. Pollen Robotics — now part of HuggingFace — open-sourced a four-finger, two-phalanx hand with eight degrees of freedom that's genuinely light in the hand. The clever part is the mechanism: no cables or tendons to route and tension, just two small servos per finger driving a ball-joint linkage, with rigid bones and flexible TPU pads. Everything's there: STL and editable STEP, a Python/Arduino control stack, even webcam hand-tracking. The one gap to know about is the BOM, which lives in an external Google Sheet rather than the repo. For a dexterous, satisfying, non-marathon build, it's a standout.

NOT IN THE REPO

  • —cad/ folder has STL and editable STEP; control code in Python + Arduino
  • —No cable/tendon routing — two servos per finger via a ball-joint linkage
  • —BOM is an external Google Sheet, not a file in the repo
  • —Hardware is CC BY 4.0; code is Apache-2.0

Can I build this?

Printall finger and palm parts (STL + STEP); rigid bones plus flexible TPU pads
Buy8× Feetech SCS0009 servos, a controller, fasteners — see the Google Sheet BOM
Tools3D printer (rigid + TPU), small hex drivers, light soldering
Skillsbeginner-to-intermediate assembly; Python if you want hand-tracking
Timea weekend or two
Costband $$ — current prices: creator's BOM sheet
Safetylow-voltage; small servos — mind fingers during testing

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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HeyGears G1: 10M+ colors and transparent parts in one print, plus UV printing on flat objects. Figures, parts and labels — no painting.

See how it prints

Videos

AH! (Amazing Hand!) demo0:28

The creator's demo, linked from the README.

Gallery

The Amazing HandPollen Robotics (CC BY 4.0)
Finger mechanismPollen Robotics (CC BY 4.0)
The printed partsPollen Robotics (CC BY 4.0)
Assembly overviewPollen Robotics (CC BY 4.0)

Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Read the blog post (the official writeup)
  2. 2.Watch the demo (see it move)
  3. 3.Open the CAD (STL + STEP in cad/)
  4. 4.Get the BOM sheet (external Google Sheet, linked in the README)
  5. 5.Flash the control code (Python + Arduino)

Resources

Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.

Meet Beni, Your First All-Terrain Camera Robot!Partner · Kickstarter
Meet Beni, Your First All-Terrain Camera Robot!
See how it works

KNOWN ISSUES

  • The BOM is an external Google Sheet, not a file in the repo — find it via the README
  • Print the bones rigid and the pads in TPU — mixing that up ruins the grip
  • Hardware is CC BY 4.0 and code is Apache-2.0 — mind the split if you remix

Does it use tendons?

No — that's the clever bit. Two servos per finger drive a ball-joint linkage, so there are no cables to route and tension. Eight degrees of freedom total.

Is it heavy?

No — it's designed to be light in the hand, which is why it suits humanoid platforms like Reachy.

Can I buy the servos as a kit?

Not from the repo, but kits are sold via Seeed Studio and WowRobo. The BOM sheet lists the parts.

What does it cost?

Band $$ — the servos are the main line item. The BOM sheet has current prices.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Pollen ditched tendons entirely — two servos per finger through a ball-joint linkage. Do tendon-free hands trade away too much dexterity, or is the simplicity worth it?

CompareeTEAM1mo ago

While reading the fine print we noticed the licensing is split: the hardware is CC BY 4.0 while the code is Apache-2.0, which matters if you plan to remix it. There's also a practical print trap — the bones need to be rigid and the pads TPU, and mixing that up ruins the grip. Has anyone mounted one of these on a robot arm yet?

SO-ARM100: The Low-Cost Robot Arm Behind HuggingFace LeRobot

●●●○○ · an arm to mount your hand on

OpenArm: A Research-Grade Force-Feedback Robot Arm

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ALOHA: The Stanford Robot That Learns From You

●●●●○ · if you want grippers-plus-learning instead of a hand

Pollen Robotics (HuggingFace)

The team behind the Reachy robot — now part of HuggingFace — open-sourced a light, tendon-free printable hand that simplifies a research-grade design for everyone.

GitHub Web

Star the project on GitHub

DISCLAIMER

  • Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
  • Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
GitHub repo