Figure Founder Admits Tendon-Driven Robot Hand Was a Major Engineering Mistake
CSProfKGD · x · 2026-08-14
Brett Adcock, founder of Figure, admits that building a tendon-driven hand for their F.01 robot in 2022 was one of his worst engineering decisions. While biologically inspired and theoretically offering better actuator packaging, the tendon approach failed in practice.
Robotics experts note that direct drives consistently outperform indirect transmissions like tendons regarding low latency, backdrivability, controllability, and real-world durability.
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