WanNa Robotics Debuts NOVA21 Dexterous Hand at Hong Kong Electronics Fair

NOVA21 uses an anthropomorphic layout and measures 195 by 105 by 71 millimeters, close to the size of a human hand. Its thumb has five active degrees of freedom, while each of the other four fingers has four active degrees of freedom. All 21 active degrees of freedom use rotary direct drive, allowing active control and posture adjustment for each finger. Thumb base rotation, opposition, finger side swing and rear tilt expand the available grasp postures and contact modes for fingertip micromanipulation, multi-finger coordination and post-grasp object orientation research.

For force output, NOVA21 provides a maximum fingertip force of at least 20 newtons per finger and a maximum four-finger grip force of at least 200 newtons. It supports force control and backdrivability for grip holding, post-contact force adjustment and interaction experiments, allowing research teams to study the relationship between force output and motion coordination in different tasks. The four-finger bending no-load angular speed is 520 degrees per second, and fingertip repeat positioning accuracy is plus or minus 0.2 millimeters, providing a basis for continuous motion transitions, motion sequence debugging and repeated experiments.

NOVA21 is equipped with 16 force sensors that combine three-dimensional tactile sensing at the fingertips and finger pads with a palm normal force array, enabling force information collection at different contact locations. Its normal Fz sensing range is 0 to 25 newtons, tangential Fxy range is plus or minus 10 newtons, and tactile resolution is 0.1 newtons. Research teams can combine tactile data, finger motions and task results to analyze the direction and changes of contact force, compare the execution effects of different force adjustment strategies, study the relationship between contact states and manipulation results, and provide data for multi-finger coordinated control and manipulation strategy optimization.

The hand is built on WanNa Robotics' self-developed direct-drive rotary actuators. The company co-designed micro actuators, mechanical structure and control system around the hand's motion and force requirements, balancing force output and motion space in a compact layout. NOVA21 uses dual encoder control, and the drive module has angular repeat positioning accuracy of 0.2 to 0.5 degrees. The self-development effort from core actuators to whole-hand structure and control allows component performance and whole-hand requirements to be optimized together, supporting continued product iteration and task adaptation.

For integration, NOVA21's 2-pin interface supports RS485 or CAN-FD, while its 4-pin interface supports EtherCAT or TCP/IP, allowing connection to different control systems. It also supports over-the-air upgrades and a quick-change wrist for version updates and hand replacement. As a hand execution end, NOVA21 can work with external teleoperation, algorithms and data acquisition systems for motion mapping and real-machine validation. Research teams can use external acquisition systems to record state information and motion processes provided through the communication interfaces, and combine tactile force data with task results to analyze contact changes and strategy performance during motion execution, continuously improving motion mapping and control strategies.

NOVA21 targets scientific research and development, industrial validation and service exploration, supporting motion design, strategy research and adaptation validation in specific tasks. In research and development, it focuses on multi-finger coordination, object posture adjustment and contact force, exploring different finger roles, motion combinations and force adjustment methods through real-machine experiments that compare manipulation strategy performance. In industrial validation, it addresses tasks such as tool picking and connector insertion, verifying the adaptability of grasp methods, contact positions and operation steps in specific workflows to accumulate experimental evidence for later application development. In service exploration, it studies pick-and-place, delivery and continuous motion transitions for items with different packaging and placement postures, examining how item differences and posture changes affect manipulation strategies.

The release expands WanNa Robotics' dexterous hand product lineup for research and development and reflects the company's technical coordination from core component development to whole-hand product design. Focusing on core capabilities and industrialization solutions for embodied intelligence dexterous manipulation, WanNa Robotics said it will continue to improve its product and technology system covering core actuators, biomimetic dexterous hands, manipulation algorithms and scenario-based solutions. It said it will use real needs to drive product and algorithm iteration, validate performance and improve strategies in specific tasks, and work with research teams, robot developers and ecosystem partners to move dexterous manipulation from research validation toward broader practical applications.