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

2026-04-30

AI Summary

Current robotic systems lack low-cost, scalable, and easily integrable tactile sensing solutions, limiting their performance in fine manipulation and environmental interaction. This work proposes a plug-and-play flexible piezoresistive tactile sensing module featuring a sealed tri-layer composite structure (FPC–Velostat–FPC), enabling high-consistency batch fabrication and excellent mechanical compliance. The module integrates a high-density flexible sensor array, a compact multi-channel readout circuit, low-power serial communication, and flexible printed electrodes, supporting real-time tactile signal transmission at 100 Hz across diverse form factors such as fingertip sensors and large-area tactile pads. Designed for cross-platform compatibility, the system leverages GPU-accelerated tactile simulation and vision–tactile fusion, demonstrating successful applications in contact-aware decision-making, cross-embodiment skill transfer, and sim-to-real fine-tuning tasks.

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 (FPC-Velostat-FPC) with electrode patterns directly integrated into flexible printed circuits, substantially improving fabrication throughput and repeatability while maintaining mechanical compliance for deployment on both rigid and soft grippers. The readout electronics use widely available, low-cost components and stream tactile signals to a host computer at 100 Hz via serial communication. Across multiple configurations, including fingertip pads and larger tactile mats, FlexiTac can be mounted on diverse platforms without major mechanical redesign. We further show that FlexiTac 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 with GPU-parallel tactile simulation. Our project page is available at https://flexitac.github.io/.

Problem

• tactile sensing
• robotic systems
• low-cost
• open-source
• scalable

Innovation

• tactile sensing
• flexible electronics
• open-source robotics
• piezoresistive sensor
• visuo-tactile fusion