As embodied robots continue to advance in motion control, environmental perception, and intelligent interaction, the industry is increasingly focused on a more practical question: Can robots reliably perform real-world tasks in manufacturing, research, education, and service environments?

On August 7 in Changsha, China, CASBOT Hands, an embodied intelligence company specializing in robotic dexterous manipulation, introduced three new dexterous hand products — the L1, D1, and M1 — while also previewing its F Series tendon-driven biomimetic dexterous hand.

The company also presented supporting data acquisition capabilities, including data gloves and a broader data collection toolchain.

Together, these products form a multi-series dexterous hand portfolio designed to support different levels of robotic manipulation, from lightweight deployment and high-frequency repetitive work to high-degree-of-freedom manipulation and specialized applications.

Three Product Lines for Different Manipulation Tasks

Rather than developing a single dexterous hand for all use cases, CASBOT Hands has adopted multiple technical approaches designed around different task requirements.

The L1 follows a lightweight design with a streamlined degree-of-freedom configuration. It is designed around cost efficiency, stability, long service life, and ease of deployment.

Reducing the number of degrees of freedom helps simplify the control system and lower product cost, while the lightweight structure reduces the load placed on the end of a robotic arm. Its relatively fast opening, closing, and response capabilities are intended for high-frequency movements and continuous operation.

The L1 was previously demonstrated at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, where four robots equipped with the hand formed the CASBOT BAND and performed live music using real instruments, including guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums.

The D1 is positioned as a general-purpose five-finger dexterous hand with a higher degree of freedom. It focuses on flexible motion, independent multi-joint control, coordinated multi-finger manipulation, and tactile sensing.

The M1 is designed as a modular dexterous hand for application-specific environments. It uses a "standardized hand body plus functional fingertips" architecture, allowing different fingertip modules to be configured for different operating tasks.

The company also previewed its F Series, which explores higher degrees of freedom, biomimetic structures, and compliant manipulation. The tendon-driven architecture is designed to more closely replicate the movement characteristics of the human hand while enabling flexible, high-degree-of-freedom manipulation.

Moving Beyond Specifications Toward Real Manipulation

CASBOT Hands says its strategy is not centered on competing solely through specifications.

Instead, the company is building what it describes as a complete dexterous manipulation system spanning hardware, data, and robotic skills.

The three new products therefore represent more than a standalone hardware portfolio. They form part of a broader manipulation platform for embodied intelligence.

CASBOT Hands describes its development model as a "multi-platform hardware plus data acquisition" dual-engine approach.

On the hardware side, dexterous hands with different mechanical structures, degrees of freedom, and application targets provide a foundation for complete robots, robotics research, data collection, and real-world deployment.

On the data side, tools such as data gloves, teleoperation systems, and data acquisition platforms are used to continuously collect manipulation data, supporting the iterative development of models, robotic skills, and hardware.

Dexterous hands are increasingly becoming a critical component of humanoid robotics because they serve as the primary interface between a robot and its physical environment.

According to the 2026 H1 China Dexterous Hand Industry Research Report published by GGII, approximately 19,200 dexterous robotic hands were sold in China in 2025, an increase of 236.84% year over year.

GGII projects sales to reach approximately 70,200 units in 2026, representing year-over-year growth of 265.63%.

By 2030, as humanoid robot applications expand, dexterous hand technology improves, and product costs decline, annual sales in China could exceed 430,000 units. GGII estimates a compound annual growth rate of approximately 57.79% between 2026 and 2030.

GGII also estimates that approximately 57 financing transactions took place in China's dexterous hand sector between 2023 and May 2026, involving roughly RMB 12.8 billion in total investment.

Growing market demand and capital investment are accelerating the transition of dexterous hands from technology validation and small-scale deployment toward commercialization and larger-scale adoption.

However, the sector still faces challenges involving cost, performance, reliability, and the accumulation of high-quality manipulation data.

At the same time, much of the industry's product comparison continues to focus on specifications such as degrees of freedom, weight, payload, speed, precision, and sensor configurations.

These specifications matter, but human dexterity depends on more than the number of fingers or joints. Fine manipulation requires the coordinated interaction of mechanical structure, perception, force control, and accumulated task experience.

A high degree of freedom, for example, does not automatically translate into useful manipulation skills.

A robot that can reliably pick up a screwdriver has demonstrated grasping capability. Actually turning a screw requires control of the tool's orientation, position, trajectory, and applied force.

For this reason, CASBOT Hands argues that dexterous hand evaluation should move beyond individual hardware specifications toward a broader assessment of whether a robot can progress from grasping, to manipulation, and ultimately to completing real tasks.

A Specialized Platform Emerging From Full-Robot Development

CASBOT Hands was established in July 2026 as a technology company focused on dexterous hands and embodied manipulation.

The company uses dexterous hands as an entry point into a broader platform designed to improve robotic grasping, manipulation, and task execution.

Its stated goal is to move dexterous hands beyond standalone hardware components and develop them into an integrated hardware-and-software manipulation platform.

The company summarizes this strategy as moving "from a pair of dexterous hands to a complete embodied manipulation capability."

CASBOT Hands did not begin its development from scratch.

Its product and technology foundation originates from CASBOT, a Beijing-based robotics company that has spent several years developing embodied intelligence technologies and deploying them in real-world environments.

According to Zhengtao Zhang, founder and chairman of CASBOT, many of the relevant technologies had previously been distributed across the company's humanoid robot platforms, robotic arms, dexterous hands, and full-system control architecture.

The creation of the new company allows these technologies to be further productized and organized into dedicated product families, with different systems targeting general-purpose manipulation, high-degree-of-freedom operation, and application-specific tasks.

Zhang founded CASBOT in 2023 with a focus on general-purpose humanoid robots, embodied intelligence, and real-world deployment.

He is also a researcher and doctoral advisor at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and director of the Engineering Laboratory for Industrial Vision Intelligent Equipment Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research has focused on industrial vision, intelligent robotics, and precision assembly.

CASBOT Hands was jointly established by CASBOT, Lens Technology, and Hunan Huaxia Investment Group.

Under the partnership, CASBOT contributes technologies related to embodied intelligent robots, full-robot systems, motion control, perception, and dexterous manipulation.

Lens Technology provides support in precision manufacturing, engineering validation, quality control, supply chains, and large-scale production.

Hunan Huaxia Investment Group contributes access to real-world application environments, operational resources, and regional industrial demand.

As CASBOT expanded its humanoid robot platforms and real-world applications, the team concluded that dexterous hands should no longer be treated simply as end-effectors attached to a robot.

Instead, the technology requires a dedicated development platform.

The company also sees growing strategic value in the manipulation data generated by high-degree-of-freedom dexterous hands, particularly for training robotic foundation models and higher-level embodied intelligence systems.

CASBOT Hands is now based in the Xiangjiang New Area in Hunan Province.

The company has also announced plans to participate in the development of a specialized dexterous manipulation training facility, where real-world tasks will be used for data collection, skill training, and application validation.