
3D tactile sensing specialist GelSight has announced the release of an AI-powered 3D tactile sensor offering “superhuman” touch resolution. The GelSight Mini features a compact form factor comfortable for human hands and robust enough for use by robots and cobots.
In addition, says the company, the GelSight Mini also provides the fastest artificial intelligence tactile experience on the market, taking just five minutes to deliver sharable results out of the box. The device is offered as the only human-scale resolution tactile sensor with digital 2D and 3D mapping available to roboticists and broadens sensor capabilities compared to other similar products on the market.
The sensor exceeds the spatial resolution of human touch, quickly providing researchers with optimized images of material surfaces that are useful across a broad set of industries. Roboticists performing industrial-style two-finger gripper and bionic hand research and development now have access to industry-first capabilities with GelSight Mini, says the company.
Robot Operating System (ROS) compatibility, frame grabbers, and Python scripts are provided to allow users to quickly begin unique AI and computer vision tasks, including the direct creation of digital twins of items to be picked using the sensor. The compact and robust design of Gelsight Mini also allows easy integration into existing robotics systems, along with GelSight provided 3D CAD files of adapters for integration with commonly used robot systems.
Additionally, since research and development environments favor fast failure and iteration, the GelSight Mini is designed to allow fast, toolless gel changes, while maintaining positive locking for retention of the gel in the case.
“GelSight Mini is a first-of-its-kind, affordable, and compact tactile sensor with an easy, plug-and-play set up that lets users get to work within five minutes of taking the device out of the box,” says Dennis Lang, vice president of product at GelSight. “We believe that GelSight Mini will reduce the barrier of entry into robotics and touch-based scanning for corporate research and development, academics, and hobbyists, while opening doors to new terrain, such as the Metaverse.”
The company’s tactile intelligence technology digitizes touch with human-like sensitivity and high-resolution. Data captured by the company’s elastomeric tactile sensing platform leverages ROS, PyTouch, and Python allowing users to create detailed, accurate surface characterizations directly compatible with familiar industry standard software environments. Together with this technology, the GelSight Mini is designed to improve processes across robotics, industrial prototyping, AI and touch research, and more, enabling more rapid, well-documented surface measurement and imaging in high-resolution.
The GelSight Mini is available now for $499.
