Automate 2026 Preview: Xela Robotics’ Force-Sensitive Robotic Fingertips
On display side by side with the company’s uSkin tactile sensors, both products are designed to improve robots’ ability to interact with fragile and thin objects.
Published June 12, 2026
Xela Robotics will be displaying a new robotic fingertip capable of interacting with incredibly thin objects like cards and keys.
Xela Robotics will be among the exhibitors at Automate 2026, showing off two exhibits showcasing products designed to make robot hands more nimble and dexterous. Namely, by giving them fingertips.
That will be Xela's headline presentation: A six-axis, force-sensitive robotic fingertip, complete with a nail, will be on display working with thin objects such as cards and keys, as well as performing more complex actions such as scraping tape off a surface.
Also on display will be Xela’s uSkin tactile sensors, which work to enable gentler grasping of fragile objects. Xela’s new product will be put to the test in a display involving a paper origami crane and a quail egg.
Xela’s uSkin high-density three-axis tactile sensors are compact and provide a spatial density that allows robots to understand how tightly they are gripping an object, as well as how it moves within their grasp. Built from a flexible elastomer, they conform to different object shapes, grippers and robot hands and can be customized to meet specific application needs across markets as diverse as manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and agriculture. The company’s hardware and software solutions enable an advanced sense of touch in robots used in research labs and with industrial and commercial clients.
