The pursuit of this design originated with the idea to embed vibrating surfaces in the phalanges of a multi-fingered robot hand. Such a hand would have the benefit of being able to perform finger-gaiting when necessary, while also leveraging the simplicity of vibrating surfaces. This is akin to quadrupeds with wheels for feet. However, a hand with voice coil actuators (VCAs) on each phalanx would be incredibly bulky and heavy. Instead, with a proper transmission each VCA could be embedded in a roomier palm and its vibrations transmitted distally through each rotary joint.