VisualForce: robots infer grip force from soft gripper deformation, no force sensors needed
du_yilun · x · 2026-10-30
Researchers from MIT, Harvard and collaborators present VisualForce, enabling force-aware robot manipulation using only vision — no force or tactile sensors at deployment.
- A visual force estimator is trained on calibration data of a compliant Fin Ray gripper deforming under load, then used to annotate task demos with force estimates
- An action–force proposal policy jointly generates candidate actions and their predicted forces; at test time, the action whose predicted force best matches the target is executed
- Validated on berry picking, empty-can grasping, in-hand reorientation, and plug insertion — handling berries without crushing them and inserting plugs without slipping
- Paper, code, and project page are public
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