Chinese embodied-AI startup Xynova has unveiled two new dexterous hand product lines at the fifth Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, marking its first full public showing of both technologies. The company, based in the host city, displayed the Flex 2 hybrid-drive hand and the Prima 1 direct-drive hand at the event, which ran from September 23 to 27, according to Gasgoo.
Two hands, two approaches
The Flex 2 uses a hybrid "cable-plus-direct-drive" design, offering 23 degrees of freedom. It weighs 400 grams and can handle a peak single-hand load of 12 kilograms, with a rated continuous working load of 4 kilograms. Xynova positions the Flex 2 for industrial and consumer settings, aiming to meet strength and dexterity needs on production lines and in homes.
The Prima 1 is a research-grade, fully direct-drive hand with 22 degrees of freedom. It can open and close in 0.08 seconds and offers force control accuracy of 0.5 newtons. The company targets the Prima 1 at high-precision force-control tasks and frontier embodied-AI research, including high-fidelity data collection and algorithm validation platforms.
Demonstrations and plans
At the expo, Xynova showed a Pebble robot equipped with the Prima 1 performing ink-wash landscape painting, demonstrating long-horizon action planning stability. Visitors could also try the Flex 2's full-palm tactile interaction experience.
Xynova is one of Hangzhou's "New Eight Steeds," a group of young tech firms the city promotes. The company is pursuing both hybrid and direct-drive technical routes, planning to reuse data across the two product lines to push dexterous hand technology from research training toward commercial deployment.
