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

TL;DR

FlexiTac is an affordable, open-source tactile sensing system for robots, featuring flexible sensor pads and a compact readout board, enabling dense tactile data collection and integration with advanced tactile learning methods.

Contribution

The paper introduces FlexiTac, a scalable, low-cost tactile sensing solution with improved fabrication, mechanical compliance, and compatibility with modern tactile learning pipelines.

Findings

FlexiTac provides dense tactile signals at 100 Hz for real-time control.

FlexiTac supports diverse configurations and easy integration on various robotic platforms.

FlexiTac enables advanced tactile learning applications like visuo-tactile fusion and skill transfer.

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/.