# Aero Hand Open: A Simulation-Ready Tendon-Driven Hand for Dexterous Manipulation Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28578 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.28578/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 19 of its 37 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Aug 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.06347/) (2017)
- [Domain Randomization for Transferring Deep Neural Networks from Simulation to the Real World](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06907/) (2017)
- [Solving Rubik's Cube with a Robot Hand](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.07113/) (2019)
- [Learning Dexterous In-Hand Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.00177/) (2018)
- [Learning agile and dynamic motor skills for legged robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.08652/) (2019)
- [Brax -- A Differentiable Physics Engine for Large Scale Rigid Body Simulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.13281/) (2021)
- [Asymmetric Actor Critic for Image-Based Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.06542/) (2017)
- [General In-Hand Object Rotation with Vision and Touch](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.09979/) (2023)
- [LEAP Hand: Low-Cost, Efficient, and Anthropomorphic Hand for Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.06440/) (2023)
- [RealDex: Towards Human-like Grasping for Robotic Dexterous Hand](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.13853/) (2024)
- [ORCA: An Open-Source, Reliable, Cost-Effective, Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand for Uninterrupted Dexterous Task Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.04259/) (2025)
- [Getting the Ball Rolling: Learning a Dexterous Policy for a Biomimetic Tendon-Driven Hand with Rolling Contact Joints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.02453/) (2023)
- [Dexterous Teleoperation of 20-DoF ByteDexter Hand via Human Motion Retargeting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.03227/) (2025)
- [RUKA: Rethinking the Design of Humanoid Hands with Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.13165/) (2025)
- [Thermally-Resilient Soft Gripper for On-Orbit Operations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.08942/) (2023)
- [ISyHand: A Dexterous Multi-finger Robot Hand with an Articulated Palm](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.26236/) (2025)
- [Tendon Force Modeling for Sim2Real Transfer of Reinforcement Learning Policies for Tendon-Driven Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.04351/) (2026)
- [Motion Planning for Hybrid Dynamical Systems: Framework, Algorithm Template, and a Sampling-based Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.01802/) (2024)
- [Ruka-v2: Tendon Driven Open-Source Dexterous Hand with Wrist and Abduction for Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.26660/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Tendon-driven hands are anthropomorphic, and moving the actuators off the joints is what makes a hand of this capability affordable to build. Two effects produce that saving. Routing force through a cable removes the requirement that a motor fit inside the joint it drives, so smaller and cheaper motors suffice, and one motor can drive several joints through a single cable, so fewer motors are needed. They are also harder to learn on than a direct-drive hand. The underactuated transmission that produces the saving is itself difficult to represent in a simulator, and the joints one cable drives are not independently commandable. We present Aero Hand Open, a tendon-driven anthropomorphic hand that is released simulation-ready. Three things ship with it. A simulation model reproduces the cable transmission itself. An identified actuation map connects that model to the motor commands in both directions, including the three-way coupling of the thumb. A reinforcement learning package trains policies for the hand. Together they let a policy be trained entirely in simulation and run on the hand with no fine-tuning and no state estimation. We release the mechanical design, the simulation model, the identified mapping, the training environment and the deployment stack.