Open‑source 7DOF humanoid arm released
A new open‑source 7DOF humanoid arm for physical AI research was published, offering a reproducible hardware platform for hands‑on embedded and manipulation experiments. The repo is positioned as a ready testbed for trajectory learning and control work. (x.com)
The project appears as the "openarm" repository (maintained under enactic) on GitHub with ~309 commits, roughly 2,000 stars and ~212 forks listed on the repo page. (github.com) Design specifics published include a 7‑degree‑of‑freedom humanoid arm with stated emphasis on high backdrivability and mechanical compliance for safe interaction. (github.com) Manufacturer/docs list concrete hardware numbers: a ~300 mm reach, ~1.0 kg peak payload per arm, and a 9 kHz CAN‑FD control backbone; the project’s site lists a bill‑of‑materials estimate around $9,000 for a single system. (openarm.dev) Licensing is split between hardware and software components — the official site cites CERN‑OHL‑P for open hardware and Apache‑2.0 for software components, while the GitHub repo also shows Apache‑2.0 files in the top‑level license. (openarm.io) The authors position the platform as a research testbed for teleoperation, imitation learning, trajectory learning, and real‑world data collection in contact‑rich tasks, with complete CAD, firmware, control code and simulation tools published. (docs.openarm.dev) The project offers assembled or DIY purchase routes via listed manufacturers, and third‑party sellers are already shipping derivatives (e.g., Agility A1 listings citing OpenArm lineage with retail ranges shown between about $3,580 and $6,500). (docs.openarm.dev) OpenArm’s first official release, “OpenArm 01,” is dated July 23, 2025, the docs record active updates (docs updated March 23, 2026) and the GitHub history shows recent commits within days, indicating ongoing community development and maintenance. (youtube.com)
