  Compliant grippers enable robots to work with humans in unstructured
environments. In general, these grippers can improve with tactile sensing to
estimate the state of objects around them to precisely manipulate objects.
However, co-designing compliant structures with high-resolution tactile sensing
is a challenging task. We propose a simulation framework for the end-to-end
forward design of GelSight Fin Ray sensors. Our simulation framework consists
of mechanical simulation using the finite element method (FEM) and optical
simulation including physically based rendering (PBR). To simulate the
fluorescent paint used in these GelSight Fin Rays, we propose an efficient
method that can be directly integrated in PBR. Using the simulation framework,
we investigate design choices available in the compliant grippers, namely gel
pad shapes, illumination conditions, Fin Ray gripper sizes, and Fin Ray
stiffness. This infrastructure enables faster design and prototype time frames
of new Fin Ray sensors that have various sensing areas, ranging from 48 mm
$\times$ \18 mm to 70 mm $\times$ 35 mm. Given the parameters we choose, we can
thus optimize different Fin Ray designs and show their utility in grasping
day-to-day objects.
