GlowTact: Simple and Compact Vision-Based Tactile Sensing with High Sensitivity and Spatial Resolution

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Chinese explanation / 中文解读

中文解读待补充：本站会优先为 VLA、具身智能、人形机器人控制、机器人操作等高价值论文补充中文说明。

Original abstract

Vision-based tactile sensors (VBTS) provide rich contact information for robotic manipulation, but existing designs can be hard to simplify and adapt to the size and constraints of humanoid fingertips. We introduce \textbf{GlowTact}, a pressure-responsive vision-based tactile sensing mechanism that directly visualizes contact pressure. \textbf{GlowTact} requires only single-color, non-directional illumination, and the raw tactile image directly represents the pressure distribution without explicit geometry reconstruction. This simple sensing principle enables compact, customizable tactile sensors while preserving high sensitivity and rich spatial detail. We demonstrate gram-scale contact detection, accurate normal-force estimation, and reconstruction of fine contact geometry, including M1 screw threads. These results establish \textbf{GlowTact} as a practical new sensing technology for compact humanoid fingertips, combining a durable nitrile membrane and simple optical design with sensitive and information-rich tactile perception.

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