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The MIDAS Hand is an innovative, low-cost, open-source anthropomorphic robotic hand designed to facilitate dexterous manipulation research by integrating human-scale morphology and tactile sensing. It features 16 degrees of freedom, including 13 actively driven joints, and utilizes a compact design with 283 tactile sensors, all while maintaining a budget-friendly production cost under $3,000. Comprehensive testing demonstrates its effectiveness in real-world applications, making it a valuable resource for researchers seeking a versatile platform for manipulation and data collection.
A fully open-source robotic hand that combines affordability, dexterity, and tactile sensing could revolutionize manipulation research and accessibility in robotics.
Dexterous manipulation is limited not only by algorithms but by a shortage of accessible hand hardware that combines human-scale morphology, ease of manufacturing or maintenance, tactile sensing, and practical cost. Existing dexterous hands tend to optimize some of these properties at the expense of others. We present MIDAS Hand, a low-cost, open-source, human-scale dexterous hand with integrated tactile sensing for manipulation research. MIDAS Hand provides 16 total degrees of freedom (DoF) with 13 active DoF, directly driven actuation with measurably low backdrive torque, and 283 three-axis tactile taxels in a compact 700 g package with a bill of materials under 3,000 USD. Built from 3D-printed components, it assembles in under three hours while providing the strength, repeatability, and maintainability needed for repeated real-world experiments. Alongside the hardware, we release a full stack: design files, build documentation, control and tactile Python APIs, simulation models, and retargeting and teleoperation pipelines. We characterize MIDAS Hand through workspace and grasp-taxonomy analysis, payload and reliability tests, backdrivability measurements, and teleoperation demonstrations with tactile sensing, showing that it offers a balanced, reproducible platform for tactile dexterous manipulation and human-to-robot data collection. Project page: https://midas-hand.com