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Show Notes
Robots can see the world better than ever, yet they still fumble at the exact moment that matters most: contact. When a gripper touches a box, a tool, or a product, vision can’t tell you if it’s slipping, if you’re crushing it, or if the real-world friction just changed. That’s where tactile sensing steps in and why today’s guest is building a category that feels overdue.
We’re joined by Heba Khamis, co-founder and CEO of Contactile, visiting MassRobotics in Boston, to walk through tactile sensors built for robotic manipulation, humanoid fingertips, and grippers that need real time feedback. Heba shares the human tactile neurophysiology insight that started it all, then we get hands on with sensors that measure 3D force and shear, plus more advanced arrays that can estimate slip, friction, and torque. The highlight is an adaptive gripper demo that computes slip onboard and outputs a target grip force for slip prevention, so you get “just enough” grip without fine tuning.
We also talk about the real deployment pain: wet cardboard boxes, damaged packaging, unknown weights in opaque containers, and why tactile data matters for quality control, process monitoring, and reliable placing instead of “pick and drop.” Then we talk about the tactile data problem, the sim-to-real gap in physical AI, and why investors should think about robotics supply chain components, not only full stack humanoid robots.
If you’re building automation for warehouses, manufacturing, logistics, machine tending, or humanoid robotics and want to increase their capabilities with sensing, this one is for you.
Meet the Guests
Heba Khamis is Co-Founder and CEO of Contactile, a Sydney-based technology company focused on enabling robotic dexterity with a human sense of touch. She has a PhD in Engineering from University of Sydney. She has been developing tactile sensors for robotics since 2014.
Mandy is the Founder of Dwight & Company, a boutique sales and marketing agency. A seasoned startup veteran, she’s helped robotics and automation innovators find product-market fit, launch standout brands, and scale from first customers to enterprise adoption with speed and impact.
