This assumes you know a little about setting drivenKeys and adding an attribute already. Select the cube that you are going to use, and add the attributes for the fingers and wrist. I used the settings of -10, 10, and 0. For the arm, I use an IK setup, linked to a polyCube. When I move the cube around, the arm moves as well. I also have a cube that I use with a poleConstraint, so the elbow always looks at "that" cube. I put all my hands controls on the cube so I can do everything by selecting on object later to animate it. I have the attributes IndexCurl, IndexEndCurl, IndexLR, etc. for each finger. The thumb has a few extra ones. See Figure A below for a list of the attributes.


WristUD
WristLR
WristTwist
IndexCurl
IndexEndCurl
IndexLR
MiddleCurl
MiddleEndCurl
MiddleLR
PinkyCurl
PinkEndCurl
PinkyLR
ThumbBaseCurl
ThumbBaseLR
ThumbBaseRotate
ThumbEndCurl
RingCurl
RingEndCurl
RingLR


Now you need to do the setDriven keys for each finger. I rotate only the first fingerJoint with one slider, and the last two joints with another slider. Forget about the torus for now. Since they are linked to their corresponding finger, they will rotate away from the knuckles for now. Once all the fingers are done, we can animate the torus' endSweep.

Pick the torus on the first Index knuckle. Under its shape, select the endSweep attribute, and right click. Select setDriven key and the box appears with the torusShape loaded as the driven object. Load your control handle in as the driver. Set a key connecting the IndexCurl attribute, and the torus endSweep attribute.



Select the control cube, and drag the IndexCurl value to 10. Adjust the endsweep so that the torus just touches the knuckle again(see Below). Set a key on the endSweep value.



Drag the IndexCurl value to -10. Adjust the endsweep so that the turus just touches the knuckle again. Set a key. You may not need to do this, depending on your design, the torus may go into the finger and just not be visible. Remeber we just want it to "look" like it is getting shorter as if feed up through the line.

 


Repeat for each finger and the thumb. For the Left / Right attribute, I did a driven key on the torus' rotation. Because we moved the torus pivot point earlier, one end stays put on it's knuckle, and you can eye out the rotation on the other end until it looks like it's connected.



You should now have a functional hand with a set of "working" cables... just like the claymation guys!! For an added touch... use a bump map to look like the strands of a cable. Link the map's offset value to the finger control, so that the bump map moves along the cable towards the wrist when the finger curls. Now let's do the piston that moves the arm around.



This will cover setting up the piston assembly under the shoulder. It is really fake, but looks convincing enough. It involves two aimConstraints, and a distanceDimension node. The value of the distance node will drive the scale and translation of the Sheath (see Below). As the distance value increases, the sheath will translate along the rod, and scale a bit on the Y axis so that it stays attached to the piston housing.