1X NEO Robot Hand Upgraded to 25 Degrees of Freedom: Screw Lightbulbs, Build Lego, Pick Grapes

Bot Telegraph, July 12 — Norwegian robotics company 1X Technologies has released the latest update on its NEO humanoid robot, demonstrating the manipulator’s fine motor capabilities — screwing in lightbulbs, assembling Lego bricks, picking grapes, and more.

The NEO hand features 25 degrees of freedom (DoF) — 22 in the fingers and palm, plus 3 in the wrist — approaching the 27 DoF typically described for a human hand. Unlike conventional designs, NEO uses tendons rather than fixed gears to connect motors to fingers, significantly reducing hand weight. All 25 DoF support force control and back-drivability, with positioning accuracy of ±0.2 mm.

The outer layer of the NEO hand is not an ordinary rubber glove but a sensor-rich bionic skin capable of measuring normal pressure, contact location, shear force, slip tendency, and other parameters. When an object is about to slip, the robot does not simply increase pinch force — it switches grip strategy, for example from “pinch” to “cradle.”

It should be noted, however, that NEO’s operations still partially rely on engineer pre-programming or remote teleoperation, and full AI autonomous control has not yet been achieved. 1X Technologies plans to launch NEO in the U.S. market in 2026 at a price of approximately $20,000.