Boston Dynamics gives Atlas a four-finger hand for tool use

Boston Dynamics unveiled a new hand for its Atlas humanoid robot on October 1, 2026. The company's blog post on the hand lists four fingers and 13 degrees of freedom, up from 7 on the previous hand.

The old three-finger hand was built to grasp objects. The new one is meant to turn them in its grip and work tools like drills and nail guns.

In IEEE Spectrum's report, robotics editor Evan Ackerman wrote that the hand "does look awfully clunky" next to more humanlike robot hands. Those lifelike designs, he added, are mostly good for "research and demos" for now.

Boston Dynamics dropped the pinky after a one-day tape test

The company's product and technology chief, Zachary Jackowski, had the team tape their pinky and ring fingers together for a day. After that, they agreed to drop the pinky, The Robot Report reported.

A fifth finger would mean three more actuators, with more cost, bulk and chances to break, the blog says. Alberto Rodriguez directs robot behavior for Atlas. In an interview with The Robot Report, he said a two-thumb design lost out for the same reason.

All 13 actuators are the same sealed part

Rodriguez said the hand uses 13 identical actuators, all sealed, with no fragile cables across the joints. The launch video says the joints give way when hit, so a hard knock moves a finger rather than breaking its gearbox.

Dense pressure sensors cover the fingertips and palm. The hand is about the size of a large human hand. It's about as strong as the old one, which carried a loaded minifridge of over 100 lb.

Tesla has reportedly struggled to build hands for its rival Optimus robot. The Verge reported, citing The Information, that the robot's hands and forearms have over 100 screws and small parts fitted by hand.

Boston Dynamics trains the hand's skills in simulation, saying glove recordings of people miss the fast force signals a hand needs. It calls early results "promising" but hasn't published figures, and we found no independent test.

Not everyone thinks a robot should use human tools

On October 11, we read the 28 comments in an r/technology thread on the drill demo. About a third worried about jobs or a robot takeover, a quarter debated humanoids using human tools, and most others joked. That's a snapshot, not a survey.

I know it's just a demonstration but it'd obviously be far easier to just mount a drill motor directly to the robot's arm than having it manipulate a tool designed for humans.

climb-it-ographer on r/technology, October 3

Replies argued the point is a robot that can take over a work station built for a person. Boston Dynamics' blog makes the same case against custom grippers and fixtures.

Rodriguez told The Robot Report the hands haven't been tested at Hyundai's robot training center in Georgia or put on the whole Atlas fleet. He told IEEE Spectrum the team is working out what would need to change to make 100,000 hands a year.