Soft robotic hand with tactile palm-finger coordination

Ningbin Zhang, Jieji Ren, Yueshi Dong, Xinyu Yang, Rong Bian, Jinhao Li, Guoying Gu () and Xiangyang Zhu ()
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Ningbin Zhang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Jieji Ren: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Yueshi Dong: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Xinyu Yang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Rong Bian: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Jinhao Li: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Guoying Gu: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Xiangyang Zhu: Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Soft robotic hands with integrated sensing capabilities hold great potential for interactive operations. Previous work has typically focused on integrating sensors with fingers. The palm, as a large and crucial contact region providing mechanical support and sensory feedback, remains underexplored due to the currently limited sensing density and interaction with the fingers. Here, we develop a sensorized robotic hand that integrates a high-density tactile palm, dexterous soft fingers, and cooperative palm-finger interaction strategies. The palm features a compact visual-tactile design to capture delicate contact information. The soft fingers are designed as fiber-reinforced pneumatic actuators, each providing two-segment motions for multimodal grasping. These features enable extensive palm-finger interactions, offering mutual benefits such as improved grasping stability, automatic exquisite surface reconstruction, and accurate object classification. We also develop palm-finger feedback strategies to enable dynamic tasks, including planar object pickup, continuous flaw detection, and grasping pose adjustment. Furthermore, our development, augmented by artificial intelligence, shows improved potential for human-robot collaboration. Our results suggest the promise of fusing rich palm tactile sensing with soft dexterous fingers for advanced interactive robotic operations.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57741-6

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