HandCarnegie Mellon University2023US
LEAP Hand
Low-cost 16-DOF, four-finger anthropomorphic research hand built from Dynamixel servos and readily available parts, assemblable in under 4 hours.
Difficulty index
6.6/13| Class | hand | +3 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $1,772 BOM | +1.2 |
| DOF | 16 DOF | +1.6 |
| Parts | 58 parts | +0.8 |
Specimen photographs
4 items
Studio render of the published MJCF, the model's zero pose. Geometry only; colours are the model's own materials.Rendered by Hyperspawn from mujoco_menagerie/leap_hand (MIT) · Hyperspawn render · source 
Side view of the same MJCF render, the model's zero pose.Rendered by Hyperspawn from mujoco_menagerie/leap_hand (MIT) · Hyperspawn render · source 4 s turntable of the MJCF studio render.Rendered by Hyperspawn from mujoco_menagerie/leap_hand (MIT) · Hyperspawn render · source LEAP Hand: Low-Cost, Anthropomorphic, Multi-fingered Hand [RSS 2023]Deepak Pathak · official video, embedded · source
Spec card
5/13 known- Degrees of freedom
- 16
- Price
- $2,000 · Parts page (as of Aug 2023): full hand ~$1,772 (Dynamixel $1,578 + other $193), Lite ~$714; 'under $2000'. The ROBOTIS/Dexbotics kit partnership has ended.
- BOM total
- $1,772 · 16/17 lines priced
- Part count
- 58
- Actuators
- 16x Dynamixel XC330 + U2D2
Not in the registry: height, mass, payload, speed, runtime, battery, compute, sensors. Left blank rather than guessed.
What you learn building it
- +Tendon and linkage transmissions
- +Controlling many coupled joints
- +Tactile and proprioceptive sensing
- +Cable routing in tight spaces
- +FDM 3D printing: 17 parts
- +Tools used: FDM printer (Ender 3 S1 used upstream; direct drive needed for flexible filament), Cura 5, Soldering iron (250 °C), PH00 Phillips screwdriver (a motorised one is recommended), M2/M3 hex keys, PH00 Phillips screwdriver, Dynamixel Wizard 2.0, Soldering iron +6
- +13 assembly steps across 8 subassemblies
- +Flashing firmware for DYNAMIXEL XC330-M288-T (x16, IDs 0-15), U2D2 (USB-TTL)
- +Testing in simulation (URDF/MJCF) before touching hardware
Openness
- publicCAD
- publicBOM
- not publicFirmware
- publicSim model
- publicSoftware
- not publicPolicies
Score 75/100 computed from what is public: CAD 25, BOM 20, sim 20, firmware 15, software 10, policies 10. Hardware license: CC-BY-NC-4.0. Software license: MIT.
Repos & models
Build it
Has an ORP build package.- BOM total
- $1,772
- Lines priced
- 16/17
- Parts
- 58
- Steps
- 13
- Version
- 0.1.0
1 line have no price yet, so the real total is higher.
Largest BOM lines
| Part | Qty | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| DYNAMIXEL XC330-M288-T (Full hand); Lite hand uses XL330-M288-T insteadXC330-M288-T | 16 | $89.99 |
| NinjaTek NinjaFlex Edge filament, 100 g (optional soft fingertips) | 1 | $49.44 |
| DYNAMIXEL U2D2 USB-to-TTL interfaceU2D2 | 1 | $32.1 |
| Grip tape (palm and finger surfaces) | 1 | $29.99 |
| DYNAMIXEL FPX330-H101 horn, 4-pc set (11 horns needed)FPX330-H101 | 3 | $9.8 |
| DYNAMIXEL FPX330-S101 bracket, 4-pc set (10 brackets needed; designed to break first in a crash, buy spares)FPX330-S101 | 3 | $9.8 |
| Polymaker PLA Pro filament (~200 g used) | 1 | $19.99 |
| 5 V 30 A power supply | 1 | $19.99 |
- Prices are the Parts page's 'As of Aug 2023' figures: Full ≈ $1,771.74 (Dynamixel $1,578.34 + other $193.40), Lite ≈ $714.30. The page also says 'under $2000' / '~$700'. Tools (printer, iron, drivers) are extra.
- Most non-Dynamixel links are Amazon a.co short links and DigiKey short links; they resolve to specific listings but can change. ROBOTIS US is the only region with product links; outside the US the page points to the ROBOTIS international shop front.
- The LEAP Purchase page says the ROBOTIS/Dexbotics partnership has ended, so ROBOTIS no longer sells LEAP Dynamixel kits or assembled hands through it, though the ROBOTIS bundle page still loads. Third-party assembled hands (Amazon, Taobao) are not affiliated with LEAP.
- M2 nuts used throughout the assembly are not a separate BOM line; the guide assumes the nuts supplied with the Dynamixel brackets. Count before you start.
- The Parts page lists the M2 8 mm and M2 10 mm screws as two $19 lines with the same variety-pack link; one pack may cover both.
- CAD is CC BY-NC-SA (non-commercial) and is behind a request form; the API code is MIT. The robots.ts record lists the hardware as CC-BY-NC-4.0.
- This package covers LEAP Hand v1. LEAP Hand v2 (v2.leaphand.com) and v2-adv are different designs with their own parts.
- The assembly page gives no torques and no per-step times; the Parts page says under three hours of assembly.
- Print hours and grams per part are not published (total: under 24 h, about 200 g of PLA).
Simulate
Load it in the browser simulator and train a policy before building.
Open on humanoidrobots.training ↗Next rung
Bittle / Bittle X →Petoi · quadruped · index 7.5Easiest buildable quadruped, the next class up from hand. Adds gait generation.
NoteLEAP Hand v2 (hybrid rigid-soft) also exists. CAD is non-commercial: the LEAP_Hand_API LICENSE file is CC BY-NC 4.0, while its README says CAD is CC BY-NC-SA (no version given) and code is MIT; LEAP_Hand_Sim is MIT. Uses stock Dynamixel firmware. The LEAP purchase page says the ROBOTIS/Dexbotics partnership has ended, so kits and assembled hands are no longer sold through it (the ROBOTIS bundle page still loads); availability is DIY from the Parts list. Third-party assembled hands are not affiliated with LEAP.
Sources
- [1]LEAP Hand v1 sitechecked 2026-09-24
- [2]RSS 2023 paperchecked 2026-09-24
- [3]API repo (license note)checked 2026-09-24
- [4]ROBOTIS bundlechecked 2026-09-24
- [5]LEAP Hand purchase page (ROBOTIS/Dexbotics partnership ended)checked 2026-09-25
- [6]LEAP Hand parts list (costs as of Aug 2023)checked 2026-09-25