Optical tactile sensor

An optical tactile sensing method, comprising:

• (a) having an optical tactile sensor, wherein the optical tactile sensor comprises:
• (i) an elastomeric hemisphere with an outer contact surface, a reflective inner surface, and a base;
• (ii) an array of LEDs circumferentially spaced at the base and capable of illuminating the reflective inner surface;
• and
• (iii) a single camera positioned at the base, wherein the single camera capable of capturing the illumination of the entire reflective inner surface of the elastomeric hemisphere in a single input image;
• and
• (b) performing shape reconstruction for a novel shape being in contact with the outer contact surface by inputting image pixels of a single sensor input image, obtained from the novel shape while in contact with the outer contact surface, to a trained neural network, wherein the trained neural network is outputting shape characteristics of the contact of the novel shape, wherein the trained neural network is a mapping of known 3D shapes, each in contact with and covering the entire outer contact surface at once, with corresponding image pixels of resulting single input images obtained from captured LED illumination of the reflective inner surface by the single camera while the known 3D shapes were in contact with and covering the entire outer contact surface.