Humanoid Robots With a Sense of Touch in 2026: Tactile Hands Compared

Tora One ranks first because PaXini publishes the biggest tactile sensor count of any humanoid on this list: nearly 2,000 sensors on its two hands, built around the company's own touch technology. PaXini is a Chinese company whose main business is touch sensing, and the robot is its flagship product. Each hand has 13 active joints, so the sensors have a lot of movement to work with. Tora One is a wheeled humanoid that adjusts its height from 1.46 to 1.86 meters and lists a runtime of 8 hours. It has been demonstrated at trade shows doing serving and handling tasks on its own. Its limit is that sensor count says little about how well the robot reads a touch signal. It suits factories, care settings and labs that want the most touch detail now.

North ranks second because Sharpa publishes a detailed figure for each fingertip: more than 1,000 tactile pixels. Each SharpaWave hand has 22 actively controlled joints and a miniature camera in every fingertip that reads how the skin deforms. The whole robot has 67 degrees of freedom, and Sharpa reports finger positioning within about 2 mm and a hand response time under 0.02 seconds. North was unveiled at CES 2026 with demos such as ping-pong rallies and paper windmill assembly. It weighs 60 kg and runs 4 to 6 hours. Sharpa sells through an enquiry form, so availability is by request. Its limit is a short runtime and a small maker. North suits teams that need fine, contact-rich work such as assembly or lab automation.

Pudu D9 ranks third because Pudu's own page lists the touch detail of its hand: 12 tactile sensing areas and 1,018 tactile pixels. The DH11 hand has 11 degrees of freedom, with 6 motors driving them, weighs 500 g and grips with up to 30 N. The robot around it is full-sized: 170 cm tall, 65 kg, 42 degrees of freedom and a walking speed of 2 m/s. The arms carry more than 20 kg together, and Pudu says it can climb stairs. Pudu is better known for restaurant delivery robots, which gives it a head start on service work. Its limit is that the hand has fewer joints than North's or Tora One's. D9 suits hotels, shops and restaurants that want a walking humanoid with a documented touch system.

Figure 03 ranks fourth because it publishes the lightest touch threshold on this list rather than a sensor count: each fingertip sensor detects forces as small as three grams. Figure says the tactile sensors on the market could not survive real use, so it developed its own. The fingertips are softer and wider than on the previous model to increase contact area, and each palm has a camera that watches the object being held. The robot weighs 61 kg, lists a 5 hour runtime and runs on Figure's Helix system for home tasks such as laundry and dishes. Its limit is that Figure does not publish a sensor count or a joint count for the hand. Figure 03 suits households and service jobs that handle varied small objects.

Matrix 3 ranks fifth because the one touch figure its maker publishes covers the whole body as well as the hands. Matrix Robotics describes a 3D woven bionic skin with distributed tactile sensors that can detect forces as small as 0.1 newtons. The robot has a 27-degree-of-freedom hand and is aimed at commercial, industrial and domestic work. It is a prototype from a China-based maker, and the figure comes from the maker's announcement, with demonstration footage as the only public proof so far. Matrix lists no sensor count or runtime. Its limit is that no outside test of the skin exists yet. Matrix 3 suits readers who want to follow a design built for safe contact with people.

GR-2 ranks sixth because Fourier publishes a simple count: six array-type tactile sensors in each hand. An array is a small grid of touch points, so the hand can feel the shape of what it holds. Fourier says the arrays let the robot sense force, identify shapes and materials, and adjust its grip as it goes. The hands have 12 degrees of freedom, and the full robot stands 175 cm tall, weighs 63 kg and has 53 degrees of freedom. It has a swappable battery with a 2 hour runtime. GR-2 is a research platform that supports common robot software such as ROS. Its limit is that Fourier gives no resolution for each array. GR-2 suits universities and labs studying touch-guided grasping.