Alt-Bionics Surge Hand: Extending Prosthetic Expertise into Robotics with MANUS

Products:

• MANUS Metagloves Pro
• MANUS Quantum Metagloves
• MANUS Core SDK license

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Background

Alt-Bionics, a company recognized for developing accessible prosthetic technologies, has expanded its expertise into robotics with the creation of the Surge Hand. Building on the success of its prosthetic device, Genesis, which utilized EMG signals to restore functional control for users, Alt-Bionics aimed to address a new set of technical challenges in robotic dexterity and teleoperation.

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Challenges

Transitioning from prosthetics to robotics introduced significant engineering hurdles:

• Sensor input shift: Prosthetic systems use biological signals such as EMG. Robotic hands, however, require external environmental sensing and precise operator control inputs.
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• Expanded dexterity requirements: Prosthetics prioritize replicating essential human grips. Robotics applications demand a wider operational range, requiring adaptable algorithms and advanced motion mapping.
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• Low-latency teleoperation: For robotics, especially in safety-critical environments, real-time responsiveness with minimal latency is essential to ensure safe and reliable performance.

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Solution

To overcome these barriers, Alt-Bionics integrated MANUS Metagloves Pro and the MANUS Core SDK into their development workflow. They also created a proprietary Transformation Layer to bridge human motion and robotic execution.

• High-fidelity finger tracking: The Metagloves capture millimeter-accurate, real-time hand and finger motion.
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• Seamless data integration: The MANUS Core SDK processes motion data and streams it directly into robotic control pipelines in Linux.
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• Transformation layer: Alt-Bionics’ bespoke transformation layer translates glove input into robust, task-ready teleoperation commands for the Surge Hand.

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Building the Future of Intelligent Robotics

With MANUS technology powering its control system, Alt-Bionics unveiled Surge as a 6 DoF robotic hand designed for both humanoid and industrial applications.

“This capability proves vital not only for immediate tasks such as bomb disposal, disaster response, and remote medical procedures, but also for the long-term evolution of robotics. Imitation learning, or human-in-the-loop training, allows robots to learn from direct human demonstration, generating datasets that accelerate the development of autonomous systems.”
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— Ryan Saavedra, CEO & Founder, Alt-Bionics

The Surge Hand now demonstrates safe, precise, and human-like control in real-world teleoperation scenarios, laying a strong foundation for future advancements in robotics.

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