This robotic hand can weave itself together in minutes.

Allonic developed a process that "braids" robot bodies around a 3D-printed skeleton in a single automated step.

The tech draws from the textile industry, using braided fibers instead of traditional mechanical joints and… pic.twitter.com/VRh0AUQ2YE

— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) 17 mars 2026

This robotic hand can weave itself together in minutes. Allonic developed a process that "braids" robot bodies around a 3D-printed skeleton in a single automated step. The tech draws from the textile industry, using braided fibers instead of traditional mechanical joints and bearings. Their braiding system grows tendon-driven structures directly onto skeletal cores, creating flexible yet durable parts without screws or assembly. One finger only needs 4 skeletal elements. Then thousands of braided fibers wrap around them to handle force and articulation. The software converts designs directly into machine code that runs the braiding process. But what matters is that robotic hands like this can cost up to $30,000, ~20-30% of a humanoid robot's total price. Allonic's braiding process could crush those costs while enabling custom designs at scale.

→ View original post on X — @rowancheung, 2026-03-17 16:13 UTC