Modeling the Optical Sensing Principle of the PapillArray Tactile Sensor

The PapillArray tactile sensor is a promising friction-based tactile sensor that uses a pinhole-camera-based transduction principle to sense the movement and forces experienced by soft silicone pillars. In this work, we develop and validate a simulation model of its mechanical and optical behavior. The simulated behavior approximates the response of the physical prototype, with differences explained by manufacturing imprecision. The developed simulation methodology will enable rapid design iteration of future revisions based on this novel optical transduction method, decreasing the design cycle duration and increasing the odds of creating successful hardware sensor prototypes.