At CES 2026, XELA Robotics unveiled its latest uSkin 3D tactile sensing technology, showcasing a significant leap in robotic dexterity. Unlike traditional force or vision-based sensors, uSkin provides robots with an advanced sense of touch, enabling them to detect contact forces, object shapes, and subtle movements within a grasp. This development marks a critical milestone for industrial and humanoid robotics, where delicate object handling is increasingly demanded.

Introduction: Advancing Robot Touch Sensing

At CES 2026, XELA Robotics unveiled its latest uSkin 3D tactile sensing technology, showcasing a significant leap in robotic dexterity. Unlike traditional force or vision-based sensors, uSkin provides robots with an advanced sense of touch, enabling them to detect contact forces, object shapes, and subtle movements within a grasp. This development marks a critical milestone for industrial and humanoid robotics, where delicate object handling is increasingly demanded.

Beyond Fingertip Sensing: Full-Hand Integration

A key differentiator of XELA’s approach is its broader sensor coverage. While many robotic hands rely solely on fingertip sensors, uSkin can be applied across the entire hand—including fingertips, phalanges, and the palm. From my experience in automation, this design enhances grip stability and object manipulation, particularly for irregular or fragile items, which are traditionally challenging for robots to handle consistently.

Applications Across Industries

XELA demonstrated uSkin on robotic hands and grippers across several practical scenarios, such as manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and agriculture. Robots equipped with this tactile capability can handle items more delicately and reliably, reducing errors and damage. In real-world automation projects, integrating tactile sensing is often the missing link for achieving human-like adaptability and efficiency.

Commercialization and Collaboration

In December 2025, XELA partnered with Tesollo to integrate uSkin into a five-fingered anthropomorphic robot hand. Commercial availability is anticipated in early 2026. XELA’s agnostic commercialization strategy—allowing integration with parallel grippers, adaptive grippers, and custom end-effectors—demonstrates a pragmatic understanding of industrial constraints, reducing engineering overhead for companies implementing tactile sensing.

Strategic Insights: Why Tactile Sensing Matters

From my perspective, tactile sensors are more than a novelty—they are essential for robots to operate in less structured environments. As factories and warehouses diversify their product mix, the ability to sense and adjust grip in real-time becomes a key differentiator for automation systems. Robots that “feel” can perform tasks previously reserved for humans, enabling safer, faster, and more reliable automation workflows.

Conclusion: Unlocking Next-Level Automation

XELA Robotics’ uSkin technology exemplifies the convergence of human-inspired design and industrial practicality. By providing robots with a more nuanced sense of touch, it empowers automation engineers to deploy robots in complex, real-world scenarios with confidence. For industrial automation professionals, this represents a transformative tool to expand robotic capabilities beyond structured, repetitive tasks.

Tags

Humanoid Robots Smart Manufacturing Tactile Sensors

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