A thin and soft optical tactile sensor for highly sensitive object perception

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2602.03248v1
• Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:28:14 GMT
• Title: A thin and soft optical tactile sensor for highly sensitive object perception
• Abstract summary: We present a thin, compact, and soft optical tactile sensor featuring an alignment-free configuration.<n>The sensor operates by capturing deformation-induced changes in speckle patterns generated within a soft silicone material.<n>The experimental results show a root-mean-square error of 40 mN in the force measurement and a classification accuracy of 93.33% over nine classes of textured surfaces.
• Score: 0.28528456544424774
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Tactile sensing is crucial in robotics and wearable devices for safe perception and interaction with the environment. Optical tactile sensors have emerged as promising solutions, as they are immune to electromagnetic interference and have high spatial resolution. However, existing optical approaches, particularly vision-based tactile sensors, rely on complex optical assemblies that involve lenses and cameras, resulting in bulky, rigid, and alignment-sensitive designs. In this study, we present a thin, compact, and soft optical tactile sensor featuring an alignment-free configuration. The soft optical sensor operates by capturing deformation-induced changes in speckle patterns generated within a soft silicone material, thereby enabling precise force measurements and texture recognition via machine learning. The experimental results show a root-mean-square error of 40 mN in the force measurement and a classification accuracy of 93.33% over nine classes of textured surfaces, including Mahjong tiles. The proposed speckle-based approach provides a compact, easily fabricated, and mechanically compliant platform that bridges optical sensing with flexible shape-adaptive architectures, thereby demonstrating its potential as a novel tactile-sensing paradigm for soft robotics and wearable haptic interfaces.

Related papers

• AetheRock: An Arm-Worn Robot Teaching System for Force-Guided Vision-Tactile Learning [56.20593626288444]
  AetheRock is an arm-worn device featuring a modular and easily manufactured visuo-tactile sensor, GelSlim-MiniFab, at the fingertip.<n>We propose ForceVT, a representation learning framework that uses force and vision to guide fidelity-agnostic tactile learning.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-06-08T17:38:57Z)
• Improving Sensing Coverage and Compliance of 3D-Printed Artificial Skins Through Multi-Modal Sensing and Soft Materials [64.72383971121094]
  3D-printed artificial skins are a scalable approach to whole-body tactile and proximity coverage.<n>We present a hybrid time-of-flight (ToF) and self-capacitance (SC) sensing skin that demonstrates multi-modal sensing integration.<n>We show that combining ToF and SC modalities enables contact detection, scene reconstruction, and pressure-correlated tactile responses with the compliant covering.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-04-28T12:32:35Z)
• Surface-based Manipulation Using Tunable Compliant Porous-Elastic Soft Sensing [3.109563406209924]
  This work introduces the COmpliant Porous-Elastic Soft Sensing (COPESS) integrated with inductive sensors for adaptive object manipulation and localised sensing.<n>The design features a tunable lattice layer that simultaneously modulates mechanical compliance and sensing performance.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-02-24T15:51:10Z)
• UniForce: A Unified Latent Force Model for Robot Manipulation with Diverse Tactile Sensors [51.88112610411651]
  We propose a novel unified tactile representation learning framework that learns a shared latent force space across diverse tactile sensors.<n>UniForce reduces cross-sensor domain shift by jointly modeling inverse dynamics (image-to-force) and forward dynamics (force-to-image)<n>To avoid reliance on expensive external force/torque (F/T) sensors, we exploit static equilibrium and collect force-paired data via direct sensor--object--sensor interactions.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-02-01T11:03:01Z)
• TacFinRay: Soft Tactile Fin-Ray Finger with Indirect Tactile Sensing for Robust Grasping [7.580154170757244]
  We present a tactile-sensorized Fin-Ray finger that enables simultaneous detection of contact location and indentation depth.<n>A hinge mechanism is integrated between the soft Fin-Ray structure and a rigid sensing module.<n>Deformation patterns captured by an internal camera are processed using a convolutional neural network to infer contact conditions.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-12-06T18:24:11Z)
• Fluidically Innervated Lattices Make Versatile and Durable Tactile Sensors [43.33741954317892]
  We introduce a passive soft robotic fingertip with integrated tactile sensing, fabricated using a 3D-printed elastomer lattice with embedded air channels.<n>This sensorization approach, termed fluidic innervation, transforms the lattice into a tactile sensor by detecting pressure changes within sealed air channels.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-07-28T18:00:04Z)
• A Thin Format Vision-Based Tactile Sensor with A Micro Lens Array (MLA) [9.035821470132733]
  Vision-based tactile sensors have been widely studied in the robotics field for high spatial resolution and compatibility with machine learning algorithms. Here we present a micro lens array (MLA) based vison system to achieve a low thickness format of the sensor package with high tactile sensing performance.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-04-19T06:17:49Z)
• A soft thumb-sized vision-based sensor with accurate all-round force perception [19.905154050561013]
  Vision-based haptic sensors have emerged as a promising approach to robotic touch due to affordable high-resolution cameras and successful computer-vision techniques. We present a robust, soft, low-cost, vision-based, thumb-sized 3D haptic sensor named Insight.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-11-10T20:46:23Z)
• Elastic Tactile Simulation Towards Tactile-Visual Perception [58.44106915440858]
  We propose Elastic Interaction of Particles (EIP) for tactile simulation. EIP models the tactile sensor as a group of coordinated particles, and the elastic property is applied to regulate the deformation of particles during contact. We further propose a tactile-visual perception network that enables information fusion between tactile data and visual images.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-08-11T03:49:59Z)
• OmniTact: A Multi-Directional High Resolution Touch Sensor [109.28703530853542]
  Existing tactile sensors are either flat, have small sensitive fields or only provide low-resolution signals. We introduce OmniTact, a multi-directional high-resolution tactile sensor. We evaluate the capabilities of OmniTact on a challenging robotic control task.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-03-16T01:31:29Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.