Bringing Tactile Feedback to Robotic Hands

Humanoid robots are pushing the boundaries of engineering by mimicking not just human movement but also human sensation. While mechanical articulation and facial expressions are now common among advanced humanoids, replicating the human sense of touch remains an elusive milestone. This gap is particularly evident in robotic hands, where sensitivity and dexterity are essential for handling objects in a dynamic environment.

At the heart of this challenge is size. Touch feedback technologies typically require space for sensors, wiring, and structural reinforcement, which can result in bulky fingertips—far from the elegant and agile form of a human hand. Mitsumi’s ultra-compact 6-Axis Force Sensor changes the equation.

The Technology Behind the Touch

With a diameter of just 9.6 mm, our 6-axis sensor fits directly into robotic fingertips. It measures force and torque across three orthogonal axes (X, Y, Z and rotational equivalents), delivering real-time feedback on pressure, load distribution, and subtle motion. This enables a robot not only to detect contact but to understand how an object is behaving within its grasp.

Let’s say a humanoid robot picks up a paper cup filled with water. Too much grip pressure and the cup deforms. Too little, and it slips. Traditional systems often rely on visual feedback, but our force sensor allows the robot to identify slippage or rotational shift immediately, adjusting grip force on the fly.

Engineering Integration

Because of its miniature size, the sensor integrates easily into digit-sized compartments, helping design engineers maintain realistic human-like proportions. And since the sensor outputs high-resolution data across multiple axes, it can serve both operational control and research purposes—making it ideal for labs, prototypes, and commercial humanoid deployments alike.

Our customers use these sensors in everything from autonomous service robots to medical training simulators. As humanoids become more human, touch is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.

The human hand and fingers form a highly complex mechanism and can achieve incredible movements and intricate actions. To be able to shred through guitar notes at high speed and precision like Eddie VanHalen or to be able to delicately care for a newborn or an elder requires more than just and feel but also friction and torque from a fingertip. A miniature 6 axis force/torque sensor at each fingertip moves a humanoid robot closer to such reality.