# GelSight Svelte: A Human Finger-shaped Single-camera Tactile Robot Finger with Large Sensing Coverage and Proprioceptive Sensing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.10885 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10885/

## Key facts

- Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 12 of its 19 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Sep 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [Tactile-RL for Insertion: Generalization to Objects of Unknown Geometry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.01167/) (2021)
- [GelSlim3.0: High-Resolution Measurement of Shape, Force and Slip in a Compact Tactile-Sensing Finger](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.12269/) (2021)
- [GelSight Wedge: Measuring High-Resolution 3D Contact Geometry with a Compact Robot Finger](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.08851/) (2021)
- [OmniTact: A Multi-Directional High Resolution Touch Sensor](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.06965/) (2020)
- [Visuotactile Affordances for Cloth Manipulation with Local Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.05108/) (2022)
- [Tactile SLAM: Real-time inference of shape and pose from planar pushing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.07044/) (2020)
- [Tac2Pose: Tactile Object Pose Estimation from the First Touch](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.11701/) (2022)
- [FingerSLAM: Closed-loop Unknown Object Localization and Reconstruction from Visuo-tactile Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.07997/) (2023)
- [A soft thumb-sized vision-based sensor with accurate all-round force perception](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.05934/) (2021)
- [GelSight Fin Ray: Incorporating Tactile Sensing into a Soft Compliant Robotic Gripper](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.07146/) (2022)
- [Soft, Round, High Resolution Tactile Fingertip Sensors for Dexterous Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.09068/) (2020)
- [Design of a Fully Actuated Robotic Hand With Multiple Gelsight Tactile Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.02474/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [3D-ViTac: Learning Fine-Grained Manipulation with Visuo-Tactile Sensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.24091/) (2024)
- [Transferable Tactile Transformers for Representation Learning Across Diverse Sensors and Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.13640/) (2024)
- [PoCo: Policy Composition from and for Heterogeneous Robot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.02511/) (2024)
- [PolyTouch: A Robust Multi-Modal Tactile Sensor for Contact-rich Manipulation Using Tactile-Diffusion Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.19341/) (2025)
- [OSMO: Open-Source Tactile Glove for Human-to-Robot Skill Transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.08920/) (2025)
- [Sensor-Invariant Tactile Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.19638/) (2025)
- [GelBelt: A Vision-based Tactile Sensor for Continuous Sensing of Large Surfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.06263/) (2025)
- [NLiPsCalib: An Efficient Calibration Framework for High-Fidelity 3D Reconstruction of Curved Visuotactile Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.09319/) (2026)
- [UniBYD: A Unified Framework for Learning Robotic Manipulation Across Embodiments Beyond Imitation of Human Demonstrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.11609/) (2025)
- [A Modularized Design Approach for GelSight Family of Vision-based Tactile Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.14739/) (2025)
- [Contact-Based Fringe Projection Profilometry for High-Resolution 3-D Surface Measurement of Reflective and Transparent Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.17438/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Camera-based tactile sensing is a low-cost, popular approach to obtain highly detailed contact geometry information. However, most existing camera-based tactile sensors are fingertip sensors, and longer fingers often require extraneous elements to obtain an extended sensing area similar to the full length of a human finger. Moreover, existing methods to estimate proprioceptive information such as total forces and torques applied on the finger from camera-based tactile sensors are not effective when the contact geometry is complex. We introduce GelSight Svelte, a curved, human finger-sized, single-camera tactile sensor that is capable of both tactile and proprioceptive sensing over a large area. GelSight Svelte uses curved mirrors to achieve the desired shape and sensing coverage. Proprioceptive information, such as the total bending and twisting torques applied on the finger, is reflected as deformations on the flexible backbone of GelSight Svelte, which are also captured by the camera. We train a convolutional neural network to estimate the bending and twisting torques from the captured images. We conduct gel deformation experiments at various locations of the finger to evaluate the tactile sensing capability and proprioceptive sensing accuracy. To demonstrate the capability and potential uses of GelSight Svelte, we conduct an object holding task with three different grasping modes that utilize different areas of the finger. More information is available on our website: https://gelsight-svelte.alanz.info