FORTE: Tactile Force and Slip Sensing on Compliant Fingers for Delicate Manipulation

2025-06-23

AI Summary

Rigid parallel grippers struggle to safely manipulate fragile, slippery, or deformable objects due to insufficient compliance and real-time contact feedback. To address this, we propose a 3D-printed soft fin-ray gripper integrated with embedded pneumatic tactile sensing channels. This design enables low-latency (<100 ms) and high-sensitivity (mean force estimation error of 0.2 N over 0–8 N range) real-time force estimation and slip detection (93% accuracy). The gripper achieves intrinsic mechanical compliance, low-cost fabrication via direct 3D printing, and seamless integration with standard robotic platforms—overcoming the limitations of vision-dependent approaches. Experimental evaluation demonstrates a 98.6% success rate in reliably grasping delicate objects such as raspberries and potato chips. The proposed solution significantly enhances the safety, dexterity, and robustness of robotic fine manipulation tasks.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Manipulation
• Computer Vision: Biometrics, Face, Gesture & Pose
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Handling delicate and fragile objects remains a major challenge for robotic manipulation, especially for rigid parallel grippers. While the simplicity and versatility of parallel grippers have led to widespread adoption, these grippers are limited by their heavy reliance on visual feedback. Tactile sensing and soft robotics can add responsiveness and compliance. However, existing methods typically involve high integration complexity or suffer from slow response times. In this work, we introduce FORTE, a tactile sensing system embedded in compliant gripper fingers. FORTE uses 3D-printed fin-ray grippers with internal air channels to provide low-latency force and slip feedback. FORTE applies just enough force to grasp objects without damaging them, while remaining easy to fabricate and integrate. We find that FORTE can accurately estimate grasping forces from 0-8 N with an average error of 0.2 N, and detect slip events within 100 ms of occurring. We demonstrate FORTE's ability to grasp a wide range of slippery, fragile, and deformable objects. In particular, FORTE grasps fragile objects like raspberries and potato chips with a 98.6% success rate, and achieves 93% accuracy in detecting slip events. These results highlight FORTE's potential as a robust and practical solution for enabling delicate robotic manipulation. Project page: https://merge-lab.github.io/FORTE

Problem

• Enabling delicate robotic manipulation of fragile objects
• Providing low-latency force and slip tactile feedback
• Reducing integration complexity in compliant gripper systems

Innovation

• Embedded tactile sensing in compliant gripper fingers
• 3D-printed fin-ray grippers with air channels
• Low-latency force and slip feedback system