# A low-cost and lightweight 6 DoF bimanual arm for dynamic and contact-rich manipulation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.16908 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.16908/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 24 Feb 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [EveryDayVLA: A Vision-Language-Action Model for Affordable Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.05397/) (2025)
- [SkillVLA: Tackling Combinatorial Diversity in Dual-Arm Manipulation via Skill Reuse](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.03836/) (2026)
- [NeuralSVCD for Efficient Swept Volume Collision Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.00499/) (2025)
- [Reproducible Vision-Guided 6-DoF Robotic Manipulator with a Mixed Stepper-Driver Architecture and Browser-Native Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.22799/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Dynamic and contact-rich object manipulation, such as striking, snatching, or hammering, remains challenging for robotic systems due to hardware limitations. Most existing robots are constrained by high-inertia design, limited compliance, and reliance on expensive torque sensors. To address this, we introduce ARMADA (Affordable Robot for Manipulation and Dynamic Actions), a 6 degrees-of-freedom bimanual robot designed for dynamic manipulation research. ARMADA combines low-inertia, back-drivable actuators with a lightweight design, using readily available components and 3D-printed links for ease of assembly in research labs. The entire system, including both arms, is built for just 6,100. Each arm achieves speeds up to 6.16m/s, almost twice that of most collaborative robots, with a comparable payload of 2.5kg. We demonstrate ARMADA can perform dynamic manipulation like snatching, hammering, and bimanual throwing in real-world environments. We also showcase its effectiveness in reinforcement learning (RL) by training a non-prehensile manipulation policy in simulation and transferring it zero-shot to the real world, as well as human motion shadowing for dynamic bimanual object throwing. ARMADA is fully open-sourced with detailed assembly instructions, CAD models, URDFs, simulation, and learning codes. We highly recommend viewing the supplementary video at https://sites.google.com/view/im2-humanoid-arm.