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Build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply: media published by wuphilipp/gello_software
Build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply: media published by wuphilipp/gello_softwareCredit: wuphilipp/gello_software
Build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply: media published by wuphilipp/gello_software (image 2)
Build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply: media published by wuphilipp/gello_software (image 3)

Build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply

Arm, Medium

GELLO is a low-cost, intuitive teleop device: a scaled 3D-printed replica of your arm with Dynamixel joints, used to drive Franka, UR or other arms.

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Print the GELLO for your arm, read its joints, and stream them to the real robot. The software supports Franka FR3 (ROS 2), Panda, I2RT YAM and more.

Hardware & cost: Dynamixel servos plus printed parts; a few hundred dollars (see the hardware repo).

Difficulty: Medium.

Agent install prompt (paste into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex): "Clone https://github.com/wuphilipp/gello_software, find the GELLO variant for my arm in gello_mechanical, and run the teleop script in simulation first."

Source: wuphilipp/gello_software on GitHub — https://github.com/wuphilipp/gello_software (facts checked against the project README, Oct 2026; prices vary by region).

Quick answers

What do you need to build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply?
Dynamixel servos plus printed parts; a few hundred dollars (see the hardware repo).
How hard is it to build a GELLO controller to teleop a robot arm cheaply?
Medium.

How your agent drives it

Copied from the wuphilipp/gello_software README

  1. Shell
    $ git clone https://github.com/wuphilipp/gello_software.git
  2. Shell
    $ python experiments/launch_nodes.py --robot <sim_ur|sim_panda|sim_xarm>
  3. Shell
    $ python experiments/run_env.py --agent=gello

Any coding agent that can run a shell can run these. Read the README before you run anything on a robot that moves.

Ideas to try with it

Our ideas, not the builder's claims.

  1. Puppet a simulated UR arm with a 3D-printed GELLO before touching real hardware
  2. Collect smooth teleop demos for a Franka faster than with a spacemouse
  3. Build a pair and run a two-arm setup
1 more idea
  1. Use it to teach a lab class how joint space control feels
Source
wuphilipp/gello_software on GitHub
Last commit
2026-09-14
Builder
wuphilipp
Repo
wuphilipp/gello_software, 562 stars
Built with
Franka, UR5, I2RT YAM

More like this: Teleop & remote control · Arm manipulation

What to build next

Builds that share a board, robot or agent with this one.