ACE-F: A Cross Embodiment Foldable System with Force Feedback for Dexterous Teleoperation

TL;DR

ACE-F is a novel foldable teleoperation system with force feedback that enables intuitive, cross-embodiment manipulation and high-quality data collection for complex tasks, without additional sensors.

Contribution

It introduces a cross-embodiment, foldable teleoperation platform with virtual force feedback, enhancing generalization and ease of use for diverse robotic systems.

Findings

Significantly simplifies control of various robot embodiments.

Enables high-quality demonstration data collection for complex tasks.

Operates as intuitively as a computer mouse.

Abstract

Teleoperation systems are essential for efficiently collecting diverse and high-quality robot demonstration data, especially for complex, contact-rich tasks. However, current teleoperation platforms typically lack integrated force feedback, cross-embodiment generalization, and portable, user-friendly designs, limiting their practical deployment. To address these limitations, we introduce ACE-F, a cross embodiment foldable teleoperation system with integrated force feedback. Our approach leverages inverse kinematics (IK) combined with a carefully designed human-robot interface (HRI), enabling users to capture precise and high-quality demonstrations effortlessly. We further propose a generalized soft-controller pipeline integrating PD control and inverse dynamics to ensure robot safety and precise motion control across diverse robotic embodiments. Critically, to achieve cross-embodiment generalization of force feedback without additional sensors, we innovatively interpret end-effector positional deviations as virtual force signals, which enhance data collection and enable applications in imitation learning. Extensive teleoperation experiments confirm that ACE-F significantly simplifies the control of various robot embodiments, making dexterous manipulation tasks as intuitive as operating a computer mouse. The system is open-sourced at: https://acefoldable.github.io/