TouchDrive: Electronics-Free Tactile Sensing Interface for Assistive Grasping

TL;DR

TouchDrive introduces an electronics-free tactile interface for assistive grasping, enabling users to modulate grasp forces through pneumatic feedback, simplifying system design and enhancing accessibility.

Contribution

It presents a novel, passive mechanical tactile sensing system that eliminates electronics, integrating sensing, feedback, and control in a single pneumatic loop.

Findings

Reliable performance across diverse robotic platforms

Effective manipulation of fragile objects like fruits and everyday items

Simplifies assistive grasping systems by removing electronics

Abstract

Assistive robotic grasping plays an important role in enabling safe and adaptive manipulation of diverse objects. However, existing systems often rely on electronic sensing and multi-stage processing pipelines, increasing system complexity and reducing accessibility. To address these limitations, we present TouchDrive, a cost-effective, electronics-free tactile sensing interface for assistive grasping. TouchDrive directly converts contact forces into pneumatic feedback through valve-mediated switching, integrating sensing, signal generation, and feedback within a single passive mechanical loop. The system can be employed using a pneumatic normally closed valve, a compressed air tank, sensing element, and haptic feedback actuator without electronics. By delivering tactile cues, TouchDrive empowers users to modulate grasp forces, enabling precise and robust delicate manipulation of compliant and fragile objects. The interface has been validated across diverse robotic platforms, consistently demonstrating reliable performance and practical applicability in assistive grasping tasks, such as handling fruits and everyday items (up to 20 objects).