Flexible Sensors for Robotics Tactile Perception: A Review

Abstract

Touch links perception to control by turning contact into actionable force. It provides pressure and friction cues that help robots regulate grip and execute precise manipulation, especially in unstructured environments. As robots move into open, real‐world settings, rigid tactile sensors struggle with surface conformity. Flexible tactile sensors, with skin‐like softness and conformal contact, are emerging as a foundation for next‐generation robotic touch. This review provides a systematic survey of high‐impact advances in flexible tactile sensing for robotics, covering sensing mechanisms, structural design strategies, tactile decoding methods, and robotics‐oriented applications. We first analyze the characteristics, limitations, and robotic task suitability of different tactile sensing mechanisms, followed by a discussion of structural designs and integration approaches that enhance sensor performance. We then examine mechanics‐based reconstruction and intelligent decoding algorithms, including machine learning‐based tactile recognition and Transformer‐based tactile representation. Subsequently, we highlight frontier embodied intelligence applications enabled by flexible tactile sensing technologies. In addition, we identify four major research gaps and outline four priority directions for future development. This review aims to offer a robotics‐oriented, comprehensive technical reference for researchers in flexible tactile sensing and to promote substantive progress in robotic tactile perception.