Xela Robotics

Xela Robotics is a Japanese start-up that makes three-axis tactile sensors in the uSkin series. The company builds no robots; it supplies the "skin" for grippers and hands, which is what most robots lack once they begin touching the world. The sensor works on the Hall effect, consists of many measuring points (taxels), each measuring force in three axes, and has a soft surface.

Two datasheets show the range. The smallest modules, the uSPa11, uSPa21 and uSPa22, have 1, 2 and 4 taxels, dimensions from 7 × 7.5 × 4.7 mm to 11.1 × 11.1 × 4.7 mm and sampling rates of 500, 250 and 125 Hz. On a single taxel they measure normal force up to about 7.8 N (at high sensitivity) and shear force up to about ±1.5 N. The larger uSPa46 (designation XR1946) has 24 taxels, samples at up to 83 Hz, measures normal force up to about 7.35 N and shear up to ±0.87 N, with a normal-axis resolution of about 0.0007 N per reading unit. Noise in the normal axis is ±0.05%. All modules have two pre-programmed sensitivity levels (L and H), and built-in temperature measurement supports drift compensation. The drift in the normal axis is around 120 units for a 3.5°C temperature rise, which the maker states openly.

For the price and capability of a robot this is a clearly "advanced" part. A humanoid hand without a sense of touch has to rely on vision and torque sensors, so a fragile cup or an egg is a challenge; tactile sensors let it feel slip and choose grip force. That is why in descriptions of research platforms such as the Punyo from Toyota Research Institute and the Punyo, which feature whole-body manipulation with tactile surfaces, Xela is mentioned as an example of the sensor class; we do not claim, however, that its sensors are what works there. Likewise the Unitree G1 EDU in its version with tactile hands shows the direction humanoids are heading (humanoid robots).

Cost is hard to pin down because the maker publishes no prices and the sensor is sold mainly to labs and robot builders. It does add to the price of a hand, which is already one of the most expensive subassemblies (“Actuators in Humanoid Robots”). Keep the data in mind too: dozens of taxels on one finger mean hundreds of data channels to process, for example with the models described in “VLA Models: How AI Controls Humanoid Robots in 2026”. For laboratories work and grasping research it is a valuable tool.

In Poland we have no confirmed distributor; contact runs directly through the maker. Prices are not published.