Hardware

Force-Torque Sensor (F/T Sensor)

A force-torque sensor is a transducer, most commonly a six-axis strain-gauge or capacitive device mounted at a robot's wrist, that measures the three force and three torque components transmitted through it. F/T sensors provide the feedback for force control, contact detection, insertion tasks, and haptic teleoperation, and their signals require bias calibration and gravity compensation of the attached tool mass. Joint-level torque sensing serves a similar role distributed through the arm.

Why it matters for physical AI

Wrench measurements give policies a direct window into contact that vision cannot provide, enabling assembly-grade precision, safe human interaction, and rich data for training contact-aware manipulation models.