BOLT X LABS | Gesture - Controlled Robotic Arm

👋🏻 Hi, I’m Akhil

The builder, designer, debugger, and [occasionally frustrated] brain behind BLOT X LABS.

I started this journey with my friend Achyuthan, fueled by late-night experiments and our shared obsession with making machines respond to human intent. Instead of pushing buttons or typing commands, what if you could just move your hand — and the robot obeys?

That’s how our latest project was born: a Gesture-Controlled Robotic Arm.

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About BLOT X LABS

BLOT X LABS isn’t a massive glass-walled facility (yet). It’s a growing, independent robotics R/D studio where wires, servos, and sensors scatter across the table, and where duct tape counts as a structural component in v1.

We’re not just building robots to move — we’re building robots that listen, respond, and extend human ability.

Our goals remain simple:

• Make advanced robotics more accessible and replicable.

• Design systems that are modular, customizable, and hackable.

• Share everything — from breakthroughs to breakdowns — so others can learn with us.

  

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The Spark

Every project begins with a question. For us, it was:

“Can we control a robotic arm as naturally as moving our own hand?”

That question turned into sketches, solder burns, code crashes, and hours of us waving our hands in the air like magicians hoping servos would listen. Slowly, a prototype emerged.

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Meet the Gesture-Controlled Robot Arm

This is our first serious attempt at bridging human gestures with robotic motion. Inspired by surgical robotics and DIY passion projects, our arm is Arduino-powered, servo-driven, and fully glove-controlled.

We call it Project GRA (Gesture Robotic Arm).

Core Hardware Overview

• Arduino UNO
  The brain of the system, chosen for its plentiful I/O pins and ease of handling multiple servos + sensors simultaneously.

• 6 Servo Motors
  Powering the robotic arm’s degrees of freedom: base rotation, shoulder, elbow, wrist tilt, wrist rotation, and gripper.

• Wearable Glove with Flex Sensors & IMU
  This is the secret sauce. Flex sensors map finger bending, while an IMU tracks wrist rotation and tilt. Together, they translate natural hand gestures into precise servo commands.

• Custom 3D-Printed Arm Frame
  Lightweight, modular, and hackable. The design allows easy swaps and upgrades without re-engineering the whole arm.

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Why It Matters (Beyond Cool Factor)

At first glance, this looks like a maker experiment. But think bigger.

Gesture-controlled robotic arms have potential applications in:

• Surgery – allowing remote, precise, and intuitive teleoperation.

• Assistive Tech – empowering individuals with disabilities to control robotic limbs through natural motion.

• Remote Operations – handling hazardous materials, or operating in places unsafe for humans.

• Education – a low-cost model to teach robotics, control systems, and biomedical engineering concepts.

For us, it’s a proof-of-concept: showing how accessible components can prototype something with real-world medical potential.

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Gesture-Controlled Robotic Arm – Parts List

Below is the complete list of parts required to build the robotic arm and glove

Robotic Arm – Electronics

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Hand Glove – Electronics

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Mechanical & Structural Parts

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Design Philosophy

• Open-source – All code, wiring, and 3D models will be published for others to replicate or remix.

• Modularity – Each joint and control module is replaceable and upgradable.

• Human-first Robotics – Built around intuitive control, not just mechanical movement.

  3D Model Link:

  [ 1 / 3 ] GRIPPER PARTS https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1748596

  [ 2 / 3 ] Base PARTS https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1750025

  [ 3 / 3 ] ROBOTIC ARM CORE https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1838120

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What Project GRA Can Do Right Now

• Replicate finger bend → gripper open/close.

• Map wrist rotation → robotic wrist rotation.

• Follow hand tilt → robotic arm tilt.

• Grip small objects up to ~500 g.

• Serve as a live demo platform for gesture-based robotics.

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What’s Next

We’re already planning the next iteration:

• Add haptic feedback to the glove for tactile response.

• Integrate AI motion smoothing to filter out jitter.

• Explore surgical simulation use cases for expos.

• Test joystick + gesture hybrid control for dual modes.

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Credits — BLOT X LABS

Development Branch
Akhil
Achyuthan
Hridhay Jayakumar
Sibi Gokul
Vedant Palsaniya

Design Branch
Govind Krishna

Partnerships
Ryan — Partnership with A Byte For All
Bridges & Bond

Special thanks to SmartBuilds.io for the MARK 1 project that inspired it.

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This is just the beginning. Robotics that move with us, not just for us. Stay tuned — the next update will dive into the wiring, the code, and the inevitable smoke that came before success.

– Team BLOT X LABS