TORCH HAND 1

TorchKernel Robotics, a Hangzhou start-up founded by Dong Huixu from the Zhejiang University grasping lab, positions TORCH HAND 1 as an industrial five-finger hand. It offers 21 degrees of freedom, 16 active and 5 passive, moved by 16 actuators inside the hand. The drives are the company's own cup motors in a hybrid arrangement of quasi-direct drive, lead screw and linkage.

The hand weighs 1,100 g, runs on 24 V and draws under 300 mA idle and up to 6 A at full load. Static grip force is 110 N, fingertip force 33 N, payload 20 kg rated and 40 kg maximum, and repeatability is 0.02 mm. Finger lengths are 167 mm for the thumb, 128 mm for the middle finger, 113 mm for index and ring fingers and 102 mm for the little finger.

Piezoresistive pressure pads on the fingertips and palm provide touch. Control runs over CAN or RS485, with an SDK and a URDF model. A Hangzhou press report from September 2026 quotes 1,300 g, which differs from the product page, and says small-series production starts at the end of 2026, hence the pilot status. No price is published; it is available on request.

The lighter sibling TORCH HAND 2 targets perception rather than payload.