Tsinghua's TactileStep brings sole tactile sensing to humanoid locomotion, CoRL 2026
chris_j_paxton · x · 2026-09-26
TactileStep from Tsinghua University (accepted to CoRL 2026) brings sole pressure sensing into humanoid locomotion control. It builds a lightweight tactile simulator mapping rigid foot-terrain contacts to pressure arrays, aligning simulated features with a real pressure insole so the policy trains and deploys on the same contact features. Online gait-phase estimation plus phase-conditioned rewards encourage softer touchdowns and more stable stance, targeting harsh landings and edge contacts in parkour-style locomotion. Quoting the work, Chris Paxton argues humanoids currently face a sensing problem: once smarter and more aware, they will easily work around people in daily life.
More from Embodied
- Fighting Robot Caught Making Friends in Viral Clip — cixliv · 2026-09-26
- Y Combinator Podcast: Coding Agents Are Generalizing Into Robot-Use Agents — Y Combinator · 2026-09-26
- Connecting AI agents to the brain via IDUN neurotech earbuds — melnykowycz · 2026-09-26
- A robotic hand that walks on its fingertips stuns viewers — WonderFactory · 2026-09-26
- Open-source VR game built by Opus 5.5 in 2 hours with Godot and MCP, prompt included — Any-Reputation8118 · 2026-09-26
- Astra rover project ditches Onshape API, fully migrates CAD workflow to Fusion — burhop · 2026-09-26