# Tactile SLAM: Real-time inference of shape and pose from planar pushing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.07044 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.07044/

## Key facts

- Cited by 15 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 13 Nov 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Rotating without Seeing: Towards In-hand Dexterity through Touch](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.10880/) (2023)
- [Neural feels with neural fields: Visuo-tactile perception for in-hand manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.13469/) (2023)
- [Neural Contact Fields: Tracking Extrinsic Contact with Tactile Sensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.09297/) (2022)
- [TANDEM: Learning Joint Exploration and Decision Making with Tactile Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.00798/) (2022)
- [FingerSLAM: Closed-loop Unknown Object Localization and Reconstruction from Visuo-tactile Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.07997/) (2023)
- [AcTExplore: Active Tactile Exploration of Unknown Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08745/) (2023)
- [DexTouch: Learning to Seek and Manipulate Objects with Tactile Dexterity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.12496/) (2024)
- [Learning Precise, Contact-Rich Manipulation through Uncalibrated Tactile Skins](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.17246/) (2024)
- [GelSight Svelte: A Human Finger-shaped Single-camera Tactile Robot Finger with Large Sensing Coverage and Proprioceptive Sensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10885/) (2023)
- [TANDEM3D: Active Tactile Exploration for 3D Object Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.08772/) (2022)
- [Collision-aware In-hand 6D Object Pose Estimation using Multiple Vision-based Tactile Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.13667/) (2023)
- [GelSLAM: A Real-time, High-Fidelity, and Robust 3D Tactile SLAM System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.15990/) (2025)
- [Tactile-based Object Retrieval From Granular Media](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.04536/) (2024)
- [Tactile Image-to-Image Disentanglement of Contact Geometry from Motion-Induced Shear](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.03615/) (2021)
- [Semi-Supervised Disentanglement of Tactile Contact~Geometry from Sliding-Induced Shear](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12500/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Tactile perception is central to robot manipulation in unstructured environments. However, it requires contact, and a mature implementation must infer object models while also accounting for the motion induced by the interaction. In this work, we present a method to estimate both object shape and pose in real-time from a stream of tactile measurements. This is applied towards tactile exploration of an unknown object by planar pushing. We consider this as an online SLAM problem with a nonparametric shape representation. Our formulation of tactile inference alternates between Gaussian process implicit surface regression and pose estimation on a factor graph. Through a combination of local Gaussian processes and fixed-lag smoothing, we infer object shape and pose in real-time. We evaluate our system across different objects in both simulated and real-world planar pushing tasks.