Fabric tactile sensing
Fabric that feels.Touch, woven in.
Wavellect weaves pressure sensing directly into textiles, so robots, seats, beds and gloves can feel every contact without rigid hardware.
- points per sheet
- 1,024+
- points per sheet
- thin as fabric
- 0.4 mm
- thin as fabric
- real-time sampling
- 200 Hz
- real-time sampling
- bend cycles
- 100k
- bend cycles
Working with teams in robotics, health care and mobility
- Robotics Lab A
- Humanoid Co. B
- Auto OEM C
- Care Group D
- University E
- Capital F
- Textile Mill G
How it works
The fabric is the sensor
No films, no glued-on pads. Sensing is created inside the textile structure, then turned into data your system can act on.
- 01
Functional yarn
Conductive and piezoresistive fibers are engineered for stable, repeatable response.
- 02
Woven into arrays
Every yarn crossing becomes a sensing node, forming a soft, breathable pressure matrix.
- 03
From pressure to insight
Acquisition electronics and algorithms turn raw maps into contact, posture and grasp states.
Performance
Engineered for real-world touch
Target specifications for our standard platform. Values are placeholders until final test reports are published.
- 1,024pts
- Sensing points per sheet
- 200Hz
- Sampling rate
- 0.4mm
- Sensor thickness
- ≤10ms
- End-to-end latency
- 0.05N
- Min detectable force
- 100k
- Press and bend cycles
- 5mm
- Typical pitch
- 4
- SDK platforms
Custom up to 16k
Per full frame
Without encapsulation
1 to 10 mm by design
Python, C++, ROS 2, Unity
Products
One textile platform, four ways to start
From a flexible sheet you can sew into anything, to gloves and robot skin ready for integration.
Tactile Fabric Sheet
A pressure-sensing textile you can cut, sew and wrap
- 32×32
- Sensing array
- 0.4mm
- Thickness
- 200Hz
- Sampling rate
Tactile Glove
Capture how humans touch
- 600+
- Sensing points
- 120Hz
- Frame rate
- 70g
- Glove weight
Robot E-Skin
Soft skin for hands, arms and bodies
- 1–5mm
- Spatial resolution
- 500Hz
- Max sampling
- 0.05N
- Min detectable force
Developer Kit
From unboxing to heatmap in 30 minutes
- 2
- Sensing sheets
- 4
- SDK platforms
- 30min
- Time to first data
Solutions
Where touch creates value
Our sensing fabric already supports projects across four fields.
Embodied Robotics
Soft, large-area tactile skin and teleoperation gloves that close the loop between perception and dexterous manipulation.
- Conformable e-skin
- Contact, slip and force maps
- Data-collection gloves
See it live
Every contact, mapped in real time
Switch scenarios to see how a fabric array captures grasp, press and slide. Upload recorded data in the CMS to replay real sessions.
Demo uses synthetic data for illustration.
- Peak pressure
- 0.0N
- Contact area
- 0.0cm²
- Total load
- 0.0N
- Frame rate
- 60Hz
Why fabric
Woven sensing vs. conventional pressure sensors
| Capability | Wavellect fabric | Rigid / film sensors |
|---|---|---|
| Conforms to curved surfaces | Wraps any shape | Limited, may crease |
| Breathability and comfort | Feels like fabric | Plastic film layer |
| Large-area coverage | Meters, seamless | Tiled modules |
| Bend durability | 100k+ cycles | Fatigue cracking |
| Custom layout cost | Pattern change only | New tooling |
Developers
Data you can use in minutes
A clean SDK, a live visualizer and examples for the tools you already use.
- Python
- C++
- ROS 2
- Unity
- MATLAB
Calibrated output
Pressure in physical units per node.
Recording and replay
Export to CSV, HDF5 or rosbag.
Timestamps
Sync with cameras and motion capture.
Open examples
Notebooks, ROS nodes and Unity scenes.
import wavellect as wv
# Connect to the first available device
sheet = wv.connect()
for frame in sheet.stream(fps=120):
peak = frame.pressure.max()
area = frame.contact_area(threshold=0.05)
print(f"peak={peak:.2f} N area={area:.1f} cm2")News & insights
Latest from Wavellect
How we weave a sensor
From conductive yarn to a calibrated pressure map: a look inside our process.
Why embodied AI needs a sense of touch
Vision gets a robot close. Touch gets the job done. A short note on tactile feedback in manipulation.
Introducing Wavellect: fabric that feels
Why we believe the next generation of touch sensing will be woven, not mounted.
FAQ
Questions we hear often
Can not find your answer? Talk to our engineers.
How is fabric tactile sensing different from rigid pressure sensors?
Our sensing elements are built into the yarn and weave itself, so the sensor stays soft, breathable and conformable. It can cover large curved surfaces such as robot limbs, seats or gloves without adding rigid modules.
What products can integrate Wavellect sensors?
Typical carriers include robot skin and grippers, data-collection gloves, smart seats, mattresses and pads, wearables and sports equipment. Each carrier needs its own layout, encapsulation and algorithm tuning.
What information do you need to start a project?
Carrier size and curvature, target objects, pressure range, spatial resolution, sampling rate, interface, operating environment and validation criteria. With these we can recommend a standard product or a custom design.
Can I get samples or an evaluation kit?
Yes. Our developer kit includes a sensing sheet, acquisition board and SDK. Submit the inquiry form and our team will confirm availability and lead time.
Is the sensing fabric washable and durable?
Durability depends on the encapsulation option. Our standard sheets target over 100,000 press and bend cycles. Washable variants are available for wearable projects. (Placeholder, confirm with test reports.)
Which platforms does the SDK support?
The SDK provides Python and C++ APIs, a ROS 2 package and a Unity plugin, plus a desktop visualizer for live heatmaps and recording.
Get started
Make your product touch-aware
Tell us about your carrier, environment and goals. We will recommend a standard product or co-design a custom sensing fabric.
- Evaluation kits shipped worldwide
- Custom layouts from prototype to volume
- Engineering support for integration and algorithms