Human Hand DOF — Orca Robotics

ORCA ROBOTICS

Human Arm & Hand · Degrees of Freedom

Preset Poses

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Arm

Shoulder

3 DOF

▶

Flex/Ext

0°

Abduct

0°

Rotate

0°

Elbow + Forearm

2 DOF

▶

Elbow Flex

0°

Pronation

0°

Wrist

3 DOF

▶

Flex/Ext

0°

Ulnar/Rad

0°

Pronation

0°

Fingers

Total DOF

Shoulder→Fingers

3D HAND MODEL

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Degrees of Freedom

Shoulder to fingertips — 26 DOFs total. The hand alone has 21, plus 3 at the shoulder and 2 at the elbow/forearm. This makes the human arm one of the most dexterous biological manipulators.

DOF Breakdown

Shoulder — flex/extend, abduct/adduct, internal/external rotation

Elbow + Forearm — elbow flexion, forearm pronation/supination

Wrist — flex/extend, radial/ulnar deviation

Thumb — CMC abduction, CMC flexion, MCP flexion, IP flexion

4×4

Fingers (Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky) — MCP flex, MCP abduction, PIP flex, DIP flex (16 total)

Joint Types

Joint	Type	DOF	Motion
Wrist	Condyloid + Radio-ulnar	3	Flex, deviate, rotate
Thumb CMC	Saddle joint	2	Abduction + Flexion
Thumb MCP	Condyloid	1	Flexion
Thumb IP	Hinge	1	Flexion only
Finger MCP	Condyloid	2	Flex + Abduction
Finger PIP	Hinge	1	Flexion only
Finger DIP	Hinge	1	Flexion only

Why 21 DOF matters

Robot

Industrial robots typically have 6 DOF. The hand alone has 21 — replicating it in robotics is an unsolved challenge.

Prosthetics

State-of-the-art prosthetic hands have 10–15 DOF. A full 21-DOF prosthetic remains research-level.

Grasps

The hand performs 33 distinct grasp types. This variety is only possible because of its high DOF count.