Related papers: Sim-to-Real for Robotic Tactile Sensing via Physic…

Inspired by the human ability to perform complex manipulation in the complete absence of vision (like retrieving an object from a pocket), the robotic manipulation field is motivated to develop new methods for tactile-based object…

We develop a real-time state estimation system to recover the pose and contact formation of an object relative to its environment. In this paper, we focus on the application of inserting an object picked by a suction cup into a tight space,…

Tactile sensing is inherently contact based. To use tactile data, robots need to make contact with the surface of an object. This is inefficient in applications where an agent needs to make a decision between multiple alternatives that…

Using tactile sensors for manipulation remains one of the most challenging problems in robotics. At the heart of these challenges is generalization: How can we train a tactile-based policy that can manipulate unseen and diverse objects? In…

Tactile sensing is an essential perception for robots to complete dexterous tasks. As a promising tactile sensing technique, vision-based tactile sensors have been developed to improve robot performance in manipulation and grasping. Here we…

The sense of touch plays a key role in enabling humans to understand and interact with surrounding environments. For robots, tactile sensing is also irreplaceable. While interacting with objects, tactile sensing provides useful information…

Tactile perception is key to dexterous manipulation, yet simulating high-resolution elastomer deformation remains computationally prohibitive. Finite element methods (FEM) deliver high fidelity but demand costly remeshing, while Material…

Visuo-tactile sensors aim to emulate human tactile perception, enabling robots to precisely understand and manipulate objects. Over time, numerous meticulously designed visuo-tactile sensors have been integrated into robotic systems, aiding…

Tactile sensing provides robots with rich feedback during manipulation, enabling a host of perception and controls capabilities. Here, we present a new open-source, vision-based tactile sensor designed to promote reproducibility and…

Tactile sensation is essential for contact-rich manipulation tasks. It provides direct feedback on object geometry, surface properties, and interaction forces, enhancing perception and enabling fine-grained control. An inherent limitation…

Simulation is widely used in robotics for system verification and large-scale data collection. However, simulating sensors, including tactile sensors, has been a long-standing challenge. In this paper, we propose Taxim, a realistic and…

Response of the mechanoreceptors underlying the skin is greatly affected by its mechanical properties. Knowledge of this response is essential in designing artificial tactile devices such as minimally invasive tools and tactile displays.…

Humans have exceptional tactile sensing capabilities, which they can leverage to solve challenging, partially observable tasks that cannot be solved from visual observation alone. Research in tactile sensing attempts to unlock this new…

Recently, tactile sensing has attracted great interest in robotics, especially for facilitating exploration of unstructured environments and effective manipulation. A detailed understanding of the surface textures via tactile sensing is…

Purpose Surgical simulations play an increasingly important role in surgeon education and developing algorithms that enable robots to perform surgical subtasks. To model anatomy, Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations have been held as the…

This paper presents a computational model, based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), that simulates the thermal response of laser-irradiated tissue. This model addresses a gap in the current ecosystem of surgical robot simulators, which…

The most common sensing modalities found in a robot perception system are vision and touch, which together can provide global and highly localized data for manipulation. However, these sensing modalities often fail to adequately capture the…

Visuotactile sensors are indispensable for contact-rich robotic manipulation tasks. However, policy learning with tactile feedback in simulation, especially for online reinforcement learning (RL), remains a critical challenge, as it demands…

Training robot policies in simulation is becoming increasingly popular; nevertheless, a precise, reliable, and easy-to-use tactile simulator for contact-rich manipulation tasks is still missing. To close this gap, we develop TacEx -- a…

Vision-based tactile sensors typically utilize a deformable elastomer and a camera mounted above to provide high-resolution image observations of contacts. Obtaining accurate volumetric meshes for the deformed elastomer can provide direct…