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
- Lighthouse extends Obsidian welding foundation model to run on any robotic platform — bennash · 2026-11-11
- Sipeed's MaixStation Dock PCB returns, 14-layer SOM still in fab — AIFlow_ML · 2026-11-11
- NAE EU-US Frontiers of Engineering symposium explores AI-driven materials, robotics, neuromorphic computing — ProfBuehlerMIT · 2026-11-11
- Paper link for FLEX: robots generalize language corrections into preferences — JafarNajafov · 2026-11-11
- MIT and NYU's FLEX lets robots generalize a single spoken correction into broad preferences — JafarNajafov · 2026-11-11
- AI lets robotics research thrive in labs with no robotics experts — 4310sy · 2026-11-11