Combined analog and digital architecture for handling sensory input data

A system includes a robot having contact surfaces and a sensor array having a spatially distributed touch sensors disposed on the contact surfaces. Each touch sensor has an identifier and outputs an analog signal at a set of frequencies associated with the identifier The sensor array outputs a combined analog signal representative of a combination of the analog signals outputted by the touch sensors. The system includes an analog-to-digital converter that generates a digital signal in a time domain based on the combined analog signal. The system includes one or more processing units that transforms the digital signal from the time domain to a frequency domain and detects locations of touch within the sensor array based on frequencies observed the frequency domain and the identifiers of the touch sensors.