OpenTac: An Open Ecosystem for Customizable, Scalable, and Transferable 3D Tactile Sensing

This paper introduces OpenTac, a novel tactile sensor and full-stack ecosystem for customizable, scalable, and deployable 3D tactile sensing. The system features a deformable overlay that converts tangential loading into spatial pressure, enabling local shear vector decoding and normal force encoding. A customizable design tool generates fabrication files from 2D outlines and text-based descriptions, with support for cross-sensor transfer and adaptive data acquisition. The system is demonstrated on real-world robot embodiments, achieving kilohertz-rate partial readouts.