How much does the Allegro Hand cost?

The Allegro Hand starts at $15,000 at Robotics Center of Silicon Valley. Exact pricing depends on configuration (left vs right, mounting hardware, accessories). Contact SVRC for a quote at roboticscenter.ai/contact.

Is the Allegro Hand compatible with ROS2?

Yes. Wonik Robotics provides an official ROS2 driver (tested on Humble and Iron). The allegro_hand_ros2 package publishes joint states and accepts position/torque commands. SVRC maintains additional integration packages for common arm combinations.

What robot arms work with the Allegro Hand?

The Allegro Hand is commonly mounted to Universal Robots UR5e and UR10e, Kinova Gen3/Gen3 Lite, and custom frames. Adapter plates are available for UR tool flanges. Custom mounting brackets can be fabricated for other arms.

How does the Allegro Hand compare to the Shadow Hand?

The Allegro Hand has 16 DOF across 4 fingers and costs from $15,000. The Shadow Hand has 24 DOF across 5 fingers and costs $80,000+. The Allegro Hand is better suited for torque-intensive manipulation tasks and lab-scale experiments; the Shadow Hand offers more human-like kinematics at significantly higher cost.

Dexterous Hand

Allegro Hand

Name: Allegro Hand
Brand: Wonik Robotics
SKU: ALLEGRO-HAND-V4
Price: 15000 USD
Availability: InStock

16-DOF dexterous robot hand by Wonik Robotics. 4 fingers, each with 4 independent joints — position-controlled with per-joint torque sensing. A workhorse for manipulation research: grasping, in-hand manipulation, and dexterous assembly. ROS2 driver included, mounts to UR5e, UR10e, Kinova, and custom frames.

Get a Quote — from $15,000 → Book a Demo →

Degrees of Freedom

Fingers (4 DOF each)

~1.5 kg

Hand Weight

333 Hz

Control Loop Rate

Technical Specifications

Full Hardware Specs

Vendor	Wonik Robotics (formerly SimLab)
Total DOF	16 (4 fingers x 4 joints each)
Finger Configuration	3 fingers + 1 opposable thumb
Actuation Type	Position-controlled, brushless DC motors
Torque Sensing	Per-joint torque feedback
Control Loop Rate	333 Hz (via EtherCAT/CAN)
Weight	~1.5 kg (hand unit)
Finger Tip Force	~5 N per finger
Joint Range (typical)	~90–135 deg per joint
Interface	EtherCAT / CAN bus
SDK	ROS / ROS2 (allegro_hand_ros2), Python API
Compatible Arms	UR5e, UR10e, Kinova Gen3, custom mounts
Hand Variants	Right hand, Left hand
IP Rating	IP20 (indoor use)
Operating Temp	0 – 40 C
Power Supply	24 V DC

Head-to-Head

Dexterous Hand Comparison

How the Allegro Hand stacks up against Shadow Hand and Wuji Hand across the dimensions that matter for manipulation research.

Feature	Allegro Hand	Wuji Hand	Shadow Hand
Vendor	Wonik Robotics	Wuji Robotics	Shadow Robot
DOF	16	20	24
Fingers	4	5	5
Actuation	Position + torque sensing	Tendon-driven, brushless DC	Tendon-driven, pneumatic option
Tactile	None stock (add-on possible)	768 taxels (included)	BioTac (add-on)
Control Rate	333 Hz	30–100 Hz	1 kHz
Weight	~1.5 kg	~420 g	~4.2 kg
Price (approx.)	From $15,000	Contact for quote (~$16K)	$80,000+
ROS2 Support	Official driver (allegro_hand_ros2)	Community bridge node	Official ROS2 stack
Best For	Torque-intensive manipulation, grasping	Teleop data collection w/ rich sensing	High-fidelity human-like research

Wuji Hand Details → Compare All Hardware →

Use Cases

Built for Manipulation Research

The Allegro Hand's 16 DOF and per-joint torque sensing make it a practical choice for labs running grasping, contact-rich manipulation, and policy learning experiments.

Dexterous Grasping

Four independently actuated fingers handle power grasps, precision pinches, and tripod grips. Per-joint torque feedback lets controllers detect contact and regulate force without external sensors.

In-Hand Manipulation

Reorienting objects within the hand — rolling, pivoting, regrasping — requires high DOF and fast control loops. The Allegro Hand runs at 333 Hz, giving policies tight feedback for fine-grained finger coordination.

Imitation Learning Data

Record joint positions and torque feedback at 333 Hz. Export to JSONL, HDF5, or MCAP for ACT, Diffusion Policy, or custom imitation learning pipelines via the SVRC data platform.

Compatibility

Compatible Robot Arms

The Allegro Hand mounts to any arm with a standard tool flange. Below are tested and supported configurations available through SVRC.

Universal Robots UR5e / UR10e

Standard UR tool flange adapter available. EtherCAT cable routes through the arm's cable management channel. Most common lab configuration — quick to set up, well-documented.

Kinova Gen3 / Gen3 Lite

Custom adapter plate connects to Kinova's tool plate. ROS2 driver runs alongside Kinova's kortex_driver for synchronized joint recording. SVRC has tested this combination at our Mountain View lab.

Custom & Fixed Mounts

Standard 4-bolt ISO 9283 flange pattern. For custom frames or benchtop rigs, SVRC can fabricate or source adapter brackets. Contact us with your arm model and we will confirm compatibility.

Software Integration

ROS2 & Python SDK

Wonik Robotics maintains the official allegro_hand_ros2 package. Below is the minimal setup to get joint state publishing and position control running.

ROS2 Driver (Humble / Iron)

# Clone and build the official ROS2 driver
cd ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/Wonikrobotics-git/allegro_hand_ros2

# Build
cd .. && colcon build --packages-select allegro_hand_ros2

# Launch (right hand, EtherCAT)
ros2 launch allegro_hand_ros2 allegro_hand.launch.py hand:=right

# Published topics:
#   /allegroHand/joint_states   sensor_msgs/JointState  (16 joints)
#   /allegroHand/torque_cmd     std_msgs/Float64MultiArray
          

Python — Read Joint Positions

import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node
from sensor_msgs.msg import JointState

class AllegroReader(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('allegro_reader')
        self.create_subscription(
            JointState, '/allegroHand/joint_states',
            self.cb, 10
        )

    def cb(self, msg):
        print(f"Positions: {list(msg.position)}")  # 16 floats
          

Research

Research Applications

Policy Learning & RL

16-dimensional joint space and per-joint torque observations feed directly into standard RL frameworks. MuJoCo and Isaac Gym URDF models are available for sim-to-real transfer experiments.

Contact-Rich Assembly

Torque sensing lets the hand detect when a finger contacts a surface, enabling peg-in-hole insertion, bolt tightening, and deformable object handling without external F/T sensors.

Bimanual Systems

Run two Allegro Hands — one on each arm — for bimanual manipulation experiments. Both hands register in the same SVRC platform session for synchronized data capture.

SVRC Services

Services for Allegro Hand

Integration & Setup

SVRC engineers can mount the Allegro Hand to your arm, configure the ROS2 driver, and verify joint calibration. Typical setup: half-day on-site or remote.

Hardware Leasing

Lease the Allegro Hand on a monthly basis. Includes SDK access, firmware updates, and priority support. Good for pilot projects before committing to purchase.

Data Collection Service

SVRC operators collect dexterous manipulation demonstrations at our Mountain View or Allston labs. You receive cleaned, platform-ready episodes in your preferred format.

Documentation

Guides & Related Resources

Dexterous Hands Buying Guide → Wuji Hand — 20-DOF with Tactile Map → Developer SDK Quickstart → Teleoperation Setup Guide → Data Collection Best Practices → Compare All Dexterous Hands →

Related Hardware

Also Consider

Wuji Hand — 20-DOF with 768-point tactile map → Orca Hand — Open-source 17-DOF, MIT-licensed → BrainCo Revo II — Bionic hand with BLE + USB → Paxini GEN3 — 6-axis F/T tactile sensor add-on → OpenArm 101 — 6-DOF arm (SVRC primary platform) →

Get Help & Share

Community

Have a question about Allegro Hand integration or want to share your setup?

SVRC Forum → Book a Call →

Pricing & Availability

Purchase

From $15,000

Buy in SVRC Store

Demo / Questions

30-min call

Book on Calendly

Ships worldwide from Mountain View, CA. Pricing is for right or left hand unit. Adapter plates, cables, and integration services quoted separately. Talk to our team.

Need richer sensing?

Wuji Hand — 20-DOF with 768-point Tactile Map

5 fingers, 20 DOF, 768-taxel pressure grid, 6-axis IMU, EMF sensing, and 30 Hz JSONL streaming. Purpose-built for teleoperation data collection.

Wuji Hand Details Compare Hands

Ready to Add Dexterity to Your Robot?

Allegro Hand — 16 DOF, torque sensing, ROS2-ready. From $15,000 at SVRC.

Buy in Store Book a Demo → Contact Us