Video: 'Backdrivable' robot hand spins nut on bolt at incredible speed

Kyber Labs, a New York-based robotics company, has introduced a robotic hand capable of spinning a nut on a bolt at exceptionally high speeds in real time, without any video edits. This performance is enabled by the hand’s fully backdrivable and torque-transparent actuators, which allow it to naturally adapt to the nut’s movement. The backdrivability means external forces can move the robot’s fingers, and the system can infer torque from motor current, eliminating the need for complex tactile sensors. This design philosophy aims to simplify manipulation tasks, making control software and AI learning systems more reliable and efficient by offloading variability handling to the hardware itself. The robotic hand mimics human-like mechanical compliance and precision, enabling fluid and dexterous manipulation suitable for delicate tasks at scale. Kyber Labs emphasizes that general-purpose robotic hands remain a significant bottleneck in advancing robot capabilities, particularly for complex assembly and manufacturing operations. Their platform includes dual arms with human-like hands designed specifically for embodied AI, facilitating large