Kinova
About
About Kinova
Gen3 is available with six or seven joints and integrates torque sensing, encoders and a controller within a lightweight arm. A one-kilohertz low-level control loop and ROS or ROS 2 interfaces give researchers access to position, velocity, torque and custom control for manipulation, teleoperation and AI experiments.
JACO is designed as an assistive arm mounted directly to a powered wheelchair. Users control it to reach, grasp, eat, drink and interact with household objects, turning Kinova’s compact actuation and safety architecture into a daily-living device rather than a laboratory manipulator.
Products
Observed use
- Gen3 lite with Dingo-O
Research Experiment - Mounted - Two Dingo-O bases each carried a Kinova Gen3-lite arm in laboratory trials transporting a bar and an L-shaped object through a narrow passage.
Source
Supply
Supply chain relationships
- Bota Systems
Inbound - Force Torque Sensing - Bota Systems supplies sensone t15 force torque sensor for kinova gen3 for Kinova Gen3
Source - Robotiq
Inbound - End Effectors - Kinova's Gen2 Remote Robotic Manipulation System includes a Robotiq gripper, part 000460
Source - Clearpath Robotics
Outbound - Manipulation - Kinova supplies a Gen3 Lite arm offered in Clearpath's optional Dingo-O Manipulation Package
Source - Husarion
Outbound - Manipulation - Husarion offers Kinova Gen3 Lite and Gen3 manipulator configurations for Lynx
Source - Robotnik
Outbound - Manipulation - Robotnik offers RB-SUMMIT+ with Kinova Gen2 or Gen3 robot arms
Source - Husarion
Outbound - Manipulation - Husarion offers Kinova manipulators as integrated arm configurations for Panther
Source
Funding
- 2017-09-28 - Growth investment - $17.9M - Kinova secures CAD25 million growth investment
Kinova secured CAD25 million from Fonds Manufacturier Québécois, KDC and Export Development Canada to accelerate growth and robotics product development. - source: prnewswire.com
Investors
- Export Development Canada - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2017-09-28
- Fonds Manufacturier Québécois - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2017-09-28
- KDC - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2017-09-28
Team
- Charles Deguire - Founder, President and CEO
- Louis-Joseph Caron L'Écuyer - Co-Founder
Resources
Media library
- Kinova headquarters in Boisbriand
image · Kinova Robotics
Source - Kinova co-founder on the manufacturing floor
image · Kinova Robotics
Source
Official brand, technical and company media resources for Kinova Robotics. Routine news and third-party coverage are excluded.
- Kinova brand guidelines
PDF · Company brand · Kinova Robotics
Source - Unlocking the Full Potential of Robotics Development
PDF · Robotics development, 2025 · Kinova Robotics and MedAcuity
Source
Timeline
Events
- 2026-06-17 - Partnership - Kinova and RTI demonstrate KIMA clinical integration
KIMA includes native RTI Connext support as a connectivity option. Kinova and RTI demonstrated multi-robot orchestration at SRS 2026. Kinova published the integration on 17 June 2026.
Source - 2025-11-06 - Partnership - ATDev joins USD 41 million ARPA-H RAMMP robotic mobility program
ATDev joined the RAMMP program as a subcontractor under a University of Pittsburgh ARPA-H award of up to USD 41 million. The RAMMP program combines robotics, AI and digital-twin simulation to develop open-source assistive mobility and manipulation technologies. ATDev's role includes architecture and development for an assistive-technology operating system, simulation platform and key hardware assets.
Source - 2025-07-28 - Partnership - AtkinsRealis and Kinova extend nuclear robotics partnership
AtkinsRealis and Kinova extended their strategic partnership to advance robotic technology for nuclear-sector glovebox operations. Kinova's robotic arm had been integrated into the ARGO system with a world-first demonstrator deployment at Sellafield. The next phase focuses on remote glovebox operations and decommissioning at selected nuclear licensed sites.
Source - 2025-07-28 - Demonstration - Kinova robotic arm used in ARGO glovebox demonstrator at Sellafield
AtkinsRealis said the ARGO system had been used in a world-first deployment at Sellafield with a Kinova robotic arm. The demonstrator proved the viability of using Kinova arms in glovebox environments for nuclear decommissioning.
Source - 2025-05-23 - Demonstration - COVVI demonstrates robotic hand applications at ICRA 2025
COVVI demonstrated its robotic hand across multiple applications at ICRA 2025 in Atlanta. Attendees saw precision control for robotics, biomechanics, and human-robot-interaction research. The hand also operated alongside a Kinova collaborative robotic arm during demonstrations.
Source - 2020-07-17 - Partnership - SNC-Lavalin and Kinova sign collaboration for nuclear glovebox robotics
SNC-Lavalin and Kinova signed a two-year agreement to deploy robotic solutions in the nuclear sector. SNC-Lavalin became Kinova's exclusive integrator for collaborative robots into operational gloveboxes at selected nuclear sites. The collaboration built on 2019 work showing a Kinova Gen3 arm deployed into an inactive glovebox.
Source - 2017-09-28 - Funding - Kinova secures CAD25 million growth investment
Growth investment: CAD 25,000,000. The cited source confirms the completed financing. Kinova secured CAD25 million from Fonds Manufacturier Québécois, KDC and Export Development Canada to accelerate growth and robotics product development.
Source - 2013-07-09 - Partnership - Clearpath becomes North American distributor for Kinova JACO arm
Clearpath Robotics partnered with Kinova as exclusive North American distributor of the JACO Robot Arm for research. The partnership brought ROS integration to JACO to support manipulation research. Clearpath positioned JACO as a manipulator upgrade for its Husky UGV and mobile manipulation research systems.
Source
Relations
Relationships
- Real-Time Innovations
Verified Qualified Clinical Integration - Kinova and Real-Time Innovations demonstrated KIMA multi-robot orchestration with native RTI Connext support as a connectivity option.
- COVVI
Collaborative Robotic Arm Platform - COVVI demonstrated its robotic hand operating alongside a Kinova collaborative robotic arm at ICRA 2025.
- ATDev
Rammp Consortium Partner - ATDev and Kinova were named as private-company partners in the RAMMP robotic mobility consortium.
Context
Comparable profiles
- Agile Robots
comparable profile - Collaborative Robot Arm Builder
Shared workflows
- Able Innovations
workflow adjacency - Assistive Robot Arm Control
- Tatum Robotics
workflow adjacency - Assistive Robot Arm Control
- Hello Robot
workflow adjacency - Assistive Robot Arm Control
Context tags
- Lightweight robot arm OEM - Stack Layer
- Lightweight assistive robot arm builder - Peer Group
- Assistive robot arm control - Workflow
- Torque-controlled manipulation - Workflow
- Collaborative robot arm builder - Peer Group
- Force-controlled manipulation - Capability
- Research labs - Customer Environment
- Home assistive care - Customer Environment