Researchers develop scalable sensor readout architecture for dexterous robotic hands using shift-register multiplexing, enabling 20-channel sensing at 1 kHz.

A serial-in parallel-out (SIPO) shift-register based readout architecture was validated on a tendon-driven robotic hand with 16 joint sensor modules and one four-channel tactile sensor module, achieving acquisition of 20 sensor channels at a full-scan rate of 1 kHz with stable operation up to 1.5 kHz.

The system requires only three signal lines between sensor modules for scalable expansion and supports heterogeneous analog-output sensors. Joint sensors showed a maximum slope absolute percentage error (APE) of 0.446% and sub-degree estimation error; tactile sensing achieved an RMSE of 0.125 N for force estimation and 93.4% accuracy for five-class contact-location classification.

Joint sensors provided more accurate feedback than motor-based estimation during interaction, and the tactile sensor enabled responsive force estimation in contact during real-time inference at 1 kHz, demonstrating a practical path toward fully sensorized robotic hands for dexterous manipulation.