XELA Robotics

A Japanese tactile-sensor company whose uSkin product measures both pressure and shear force.

XELA Robotics was founded in Tokyo in August 2018 as a spinout from Waseda University; CEO Alexander Schmitz has researched tactile sensors for more than a decade. Its flagship product, uSkin, is a thin, sheet-like magnetic tactile sensor: each sensing unit contains a small magnet and a magnetic-field sensor, and when force is applied the magnet shifts position, letting the unit measure both normal (pressing) force and shear (sideways) force at once, for a full three-axis reading. It can be attached to a dexterous hand's fingertips, palm, or a gripper's surface to give a robot contact and slip information, with companion software called uAi to process the tactile data. In research it is commonly seen retrofitted onto Allegro Hands, used for tasks such as grasping fragile objects and detecting slip.

ExampleCovering an Allegro Hand's fingertips and palm with uSkin lets the robot feel when an egg is about to slip and add just enough grip force in response.

Also called

XELA

Related

uSkin · Magnetic Tactile Sensing · Tactile Sensor · Electronic Skin · Slip Detection · Allegro Hand

Sources

XELA Robotics: About
TOKYO UPDATES: Giving Robots a Human Sense of Touch

As of

2026-09