Robotic Insertion

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Overview

Robotic insertion concerns placing parts such as pegs, connectors, and flexible rods through openings, as well as guiding needles or instruments into tissue, where small alignment errors and contact can cause failure or damage. Methods combine vision, tactile and force sensing with compliant or hybrid position-force control; learning approaches include imitation learning, reinforcement learning, diffusion policies, and predictive world models, often trained or tested in simulation before real-world deployment. Benchmarks range from peg-in-hole tasks with varied shapes and clearances to connector assembly, flexible-object insertion, and image-guided medical procedures. A central challenge is achieving reliable generalization to unseen geometries and uncertain contact while keeping forces safe, with sim-to-real transfer and comparable evaluation still important open issues.

Latest papers

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46 papers7 papers in the last four weeks, down 53% on the four weeks before. 0.0% of all new papers.

  1. CoRMA: Contrastive RMA for Contact-Rich Meta-Adaptation

    May 21, 2026Wentian Wang, Chutong Wen, Hongxu Ma +6Robot Policy AdaptationRobot Skill Learning

    Synthoid AI · HKU

  2. SI-Diff: A Framework for Learning Search and High-Precision Insertion with a Force-Domain Diffusion Policy

    May 12, 2026Yibo Liu, Stanko Oparnica, Simon Shewchun-Jakaitis +5Contact-Rich Robotic ManipulationDiffusion Policy

    Epson Canada, Markham, Ontario L3R 6G3, Canada · Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada

  3. Rainbow Deep Q-Learning with Kinematics-Aware Design for Cooperative Delta and 3-RRS Parallel Robot Insertion

    May 12, 2026Hassen Nigatu, Gaokun Shi, Jituo Li +2Dexterous ManipulationDeep Q-Learning

    Robotics Institute of Zhejiang University (Yuyao Robotics Research Centre), Yuyao Technology Innovation Center, No. 479, Yuyao, Ningbo 315400, Zhejiang, China

  4. From Reach to Insert: Tactile-Augmented Precision Assembly under Sub-Millimeter Tolerances

    May 6, 2026Xinpan Meng, Siyao Huang, JingPu Yang +6RL for RoboticsContact-Rich Robotic Manipulation

    State Key Laboratory of Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China · School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

  5. A Vision-Language-Action Model for Adaptive Ultrasound-Guided Needle Insertion and Needle Tracking

    Apr 22, 2026Yuelin Zhang, Qingpeng Ding, Longxiang Tang +2Robotic InsertionRobotic Ultrasound

    Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong · Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong · Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, China +1

  6. Learning Hybrid-Control Policies for High-Precision In-Contact Manipulation Under Uncertainty

    Apr 21, 2026Hunter L. Brown, Geoffrey Hollinger, Stefan LeeRobotic ControlContact-Rich Robotic Manipulation

    Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

  7. Bilinear Model Predictive Control Framework of the OncoReach, a Tendon-Driven Steerable Stylet for Brachytherapy

    Apr 6, 2026Pejman Kheradmand, Behnam Moradkhani, Mir Masoud Ale Ali +3Robotic InsertionRobotic Control

    Healthcare Robotics and Telesurgery Laboratory (Heartlab), University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA. · Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA.

  8. Feasibility of Augmented Reality-Guided Robotic Ultrasound with Cone-Beam CT Integration for Spine Procedures

    Mar 23, 2026Tianyu Song, Felix Pabst, Feng Li +5AR in SurgeryRobotic Ultrasound

    Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures(CAMP), Technical University of Munich(TUM), Munich, Germany · Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML), Munich, Germany

  9. CT-Enabled Patient-Specific Simulation and Contact-Aware Robotic Planning for Cochlear Implantation

    Mar 5, 2026Lingxiao Xun, Gang Zheng, Alexandre Kruszewski +1Contact-Aware Motion PlanningCosserat Rod Modeling

  10. Designing and Validating a Self-Aligning Tool Changer for Modular Reconfigurable Manipulation Robots

    Mar 5, 2026Mahfudz Maskur, Takuya Kiyokawa, Kensuke HaradaModular RoboticsRobotic Manipulation

    Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan. · Industrial Cyber-physical Systems Research Center, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-3-26 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

  11. Force-Aware Residual DAgger via Trajectory Editing for Precision Insertion with Impedance Control

    Mar 4, 2026Yiou Huang, Ning Ma, Weichu Zhao +4Interactive Imitation LearningContact-Rich Robotic Manipulation

    All authors are with Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China.

  12. Touch2Insert: Zero-Shot Peg Insertion by Touching Intersections of Peg and Hole

    Mar 4, 2026Masaru Yajima, Yuma Shin, Rei Kawakami +2Robotic InsertionTactile Sensing for Robotic Manipulation

    Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. · Mitsubishi Electric, Kanagawa, Japan.

  13. Automated Robotic Needle Puncture for Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy

    Feb 26, 2026Yuan Tang, Bruno V. Adorno, Brendan A. McGrath +1Robotic InsertionSurgical Robotics

    Manchester Centre for Robotics and AI and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK · Manchester Centre for Robotics and AI and the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK · Manchester University Foundation Trust Wythenshawe Hospital Intensive Care Unit, Manchester, UK

  14. Behavioral Cloning for Robotic Connector Assembly: An Empirical Study

    Feb 25, 2026Andreas Kernbach, Daniel Bargmann, Werner Kraus +1Robotic InsertionRobotic Manipulation

    The authors are with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Stuttgart, Germany · Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management IFF, University of Stuttgart, Germany

  15. Image Measurement Method for Automatic Insertion of Forks into Inclined Pallet

    Feb 18, 2026Nobuyuki Kita, Takuro KatoRobotic InsertionIndustrial Robotics

    TICO-AIST Cooperative Research Laboratory for Advanced Logistics, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan

  16. Learning Contact Dynamics through Touching: Action-conditional Graph Neural Networks for Robotic Peg Insertion

    Sep 15, 2025Zongyao Yi, Joachim Hertzberg, Martin AtzmuellerGraph Neural NetworksContact-Rich Robotic Manipulation

    German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI Niedersachsen, Osnabrück, Germany · Osnabrück University, Institute of Computer Science, Osnabrück, Germany