Dexterous hand

What it means

A dexterous robotic hand is designed to support varied grasping or manipulation through multiple movable contact surfaces. The label describes an intended capability rather than a standardized performance grade. A review comparing human and robot hands argues that evaluation should consider design, sensing and control together, rather than treat a human-looking shape as the objective by itself. [2]

Mechanical freedom and actuation must be distinguished. Shadow's standard Dexterous Hand lists 20 actuated degrees of freedom plus four underactuated movements, giving 24 joints. Its product family includes other finger and actuation configurations, so even closely related hands require careful reading of their counting conventions. [1]

How it applies to humanoids

A humanoid can combine a hand, wrist and arm into one manipulation system. 1X explicitly counts NEO's July 2026 hand assembly as 22 fully actuated finger-and-palm DoF plus three wrist DoF, for 25 in total. Its product page lists 22 DoF per hand. These manufacturer figures use different counting scopes; they do not establish a measured dexterity score. [3, 4]

The hand also needs appropriate feedback and control for its task. The comparative review highlights sensor integration, robustness and softness as design questions, and argues for standardized evaluation. Adding controllable motion expands design possibilities but does not by itself demonstrate successful in-hand manipulation. [2]

Counting and terminology traps

Joint count, independent active motion and motor count can differ. Shadow explicitly separates actuated and underactuated movements. A hand with coupled joints may have more moving joints than independent commands, so a bare DoF total does not explain the whole mechanism. [1]

Five fingers are not a requirement for every useful manipulation task. The hand review questions whether anthropomorphic designs are always the right target and emphasizes contact exploitation and robust design. Compare hands against the intended object and task rather than ranking their similarity to a human hand. [2]

A manufacturer describing a dexterous hand has not supplied a shared benchmark score. NEO's hand article describes mechanisms and capabilities, but those claims are the company's own. A count or demonstration should retain its configuration and source rather than become a universal measure of skill. [3]

How to read it on humanoidversus.com

Read dof_per_hand together with hand_type, sensors and the counting note. NEO is linked because its record cites the hand article and product specifications. The hand hub provides related records, while unknown optional configurations should remain unknown. [3, 4]

The live table sorts published hand DoF values. It is a count ranking, not a dexterity ranking, and includes only records with disclosed values. Check whether each figure includes wrists, coupled movements or optional hardware before comparing rows. A null means unavailable evidence, not a hand with no motion.

Further reading

Shadow's product family illustrates actuation and joint-count distinctions. The comparative hand review discusses design and evaluation, while 1X's hand article and product page show a current humanoid assembly with separate counting scopes. [1–4]