Boston Dynamics Redesigns the Atlas Hand for Mass Production

Boston Dynamics has unveiled a redesigned hand for its electric Atlas humanoid: three fingers and a thumb with 13 degrees of freedom. The previous three finger hand could do superhuman tricks but was never meant to be built by the tens of thousands.

IEEE Spectrum notes the new hand looks clunky next to the very humanlike hands from other humanoid makers. Boston Dynamics argues reliability and manufacturability matter more than looks.

Why it matters: hands are where many humanoids break down in real work. Designing for production is a sign Atlas is moving from research platform to product.