whatisgithub

What is open-arms-mini?

pkooij/open-arms-mini — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

92Audience · researcherComplexity · 4/5LicenseSetup · hard

In one sentence

An open-source, 3D-printable robotic arm design worn on the wrist that lets a person remotely control a robot arm in real time for training.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it is
      3D printed leader arm
      Seven degrees of freedom
      Wrist strap design
    Build
      PLA or PETG
      Feetech servos
      About 150 EUR
    Integration
      LeRobot framework
      Teleoperation
    License
      Apache 2.0

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

3D print and assemble an affordable leader arm to teleoperate a robot for training data collection.

USE CASE 2

Record human demonstrations for robot learning using the LeRobot framework.

USE CASE 3

Make live human-in-the-loop corrections while a robot performs a task.

What is it built with?

LeRobot

How does it compare?

pkooij/open-arms-minibjarneo/klimitchellh/go-fs
Stars929292
LanguageGoGo
Last pushed2018-05-08
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyhardmoderateeasy
Complexity4/53/52/5
Audienceresearcherops devopsdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1day+

Requires 3D printing the parts, sourcing servo motors and electronics, then assembling and calibrating the arm.

Apache 2.0 License: free to use, modify, and distribute, including commercially, with attribution and a patent grant.

So what is it?

Open Arms Mini is an open-source hardware project that provides the design files, parts list, and assembly instructions for building a compact robotic arm you wear on your wrist to control a robot. This is called teleoperation, meaning a human operator moves a leader arm strapped to their own hand and wrist, and a follower robot arm mimics those movements in real time. The goal is to make robot training and human-in-the-loop corrections affordable and precise. The device has 7 degrees of freedom, meaning it can move in 7 independent ways that match how a human shoulder, elbow, forearm, and wrist actually move. It is 3D-printable using PLA or PETG plastic and costs roughly 150 EUR per arm for the required Feetech servo motors, a Waveshare controller board, screws, cables, and a power supply. A wrist strap is included to improve precision during wrist rotation. The arm integrates directly with LeRobot, an open-source robot learning framework from Hugging Face, and is recognized as the openarm_mini teleoperator type within that framework. You would use this if you are building or training a robot arm and need a cheap, human-sized controller to record demonstrations or make live corrections during robot operation. It is especially suited for precise tasks like cloth folding. No programming language is listed as primary since this is primarily a hardware design repository with STL and STEP files for 3D printing.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through 3D printing and assembling the Open Arms Mini leader arm.
Prompt 2
Explain how to calibrate and integrate this arm with the LeRobot framework.
Prompt 3
What parts and tools do I need to build a pair of Open Arms Mini arms?

Frequently asked questions

What is open-arms-mini?

An open-source, 3D-printable robotic arm design worn on the wrist that lets a person remotely control a robot arm in real time for training.

What license does open-arms-mini use?

Apache 2.0 License: free to use, modify, and distribute, including commercially, with attribution and a patent grant.

How hard is open-arms-mini to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1day+ to a first successful run.

Who is open-arms-mini for?

Mainly researcher.

Open on GitHub → Ask about another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Verify against the repo before relying on details.