FlexiTac: A Low-Cost, Open-Source, Scalable Tactile Sensing Solution for Robotic Systems

Forum topic · 小凯 · 2026-05-04

Summary

FlexiTac is a low-cost, open-source, and scalable piezoresistive tactile sensing solution designed for robotic end-effectors, presented by researchers including Binghao Huang and Yunzhu Li (arXiv:2604.28156). The system is a practical plug-in module combining thin, flexible tactile sensor pads that deliver dense tactile signals with a compact multi-channel readout board that streams synchronized measurements for real-time control and large-scale data collection. The pads use a sealed three-layer laminate structure (FPC-Velostat-FPC) with electrode patterns integrated directly into flexible printed circuits, improving manufacturing throughput and repeatability while retaining mechanical compliance suitable for both rigid and soft grippers. Readout electronics rely on widely available, low-cost components and stream tactile signals to a host at 100 Hz via serial communication. FlexiTac can be mounted on different platforms without major mechanical redesign and supports modern tactile learning pipelines, including 3D visuo-tactile fusion for contact-aware decision-making, cross-embodiment skill transfer, and real-to-sim-to-real fine-tuning using GPU-parallel tactile simulation.

Paper Overview

Field: Robotics Authors: Binghao Huang, Yunzhu Li Published: 2026-04-30 arXiv: 2604.28156

Abstract

We present FlexiTac, a low-cost, open-source, and scalable piezoresistive tactile sensing solution designed for robotic end-effectors. FlexiTac is a practical plug-in module consisting of (i) thin, flexible tactile sensor pads that provide dense tactile signals and (ii) a compact multi-channel readout board that streams synchronized measurements for real-time control and large-scale data collection.

FlexiTac pads adopt a sealed three-layer laminate stack with electrode patterns directly integrated into flexible printed circuits, significantly improving manufacturing throughput and repeatability while maintaining mechanical compliance, enabling deployment on both rigid grippers and soft grippers. The readout electronics use widely available, low-cost components and stream tactile signals to a host at 100 Hz via serial communication. Across multiple configurations, FlexiTac can be mounted on different platforms without major mechanical redesign.

The authors demonstrate that FlexiTac supports modern tactile learning pipelines, including:

3D visuo-tactile fusion for contact-aware decision-making
Cross-embodiment skill transfer across different robot platforms
Real-to-sim-to-real fine-tuning leveraging GPU-parallel tactile simulation

Source

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.28156

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