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A fiber-Bragg-grating-(FBG)-based sensor is a very popular fiber optic sensor due to its simplicity, mature fabrication technology, and sensitivity to a number of physical stimuli. However, due to the stiff nature of optical fiber, it is impossible to heavily stretch a FBG sensor. A stretchable sensor is highly desired in soft robotics, human motion detection, and biomedical applications, which could involve motions like tension, bending, and twisting. We demonstrate a stretchable FBG-based fiber optic sensor by embedding a FBG-written optic fiber sinusoidally in a soft silicone film at an off-center position. This unique structure enables 30% of elongation in length that facilitates tension, bending, and twisting measurement.

Furthermore, a soft shape sensor for 3-dimensional object shape measurement is demonstrated. The proposed sensor is based on dual-layer fiber Bragg grating arrays with an orthogonal mesh structure, which enables multi-point bi-directional shape sensing. The 3D shape reconstruction is based on a bi-directional curvature measurement at each sensing point, which is achieved through measuring the direction and amount of wavelength shift of each off-center embedded FBG. The conversion coefficient between the wavelength shift and bending curvatures is acquired and is used to convert the change in FBG to the corresponding bending curvatures and bending direction. The measurement error on the bending radius of each sensing point is about 2.7%. A 3D shape of the object surface is reconstructed with the help of a curve fitting method based on the curvature information across the whole FBG mesh. This design successfully achieved visualized 3D shape sensing, which has great practical value in soft robotics and biomedical applications.

 

Stretchable fiber-Bragg-grating-based sensor

L Xu, N Liu, J Ge, X Wang, MP Fok
Optics letters 43 (11), 2503-2506

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Dual-layer orthogonal fiber Bragg grating mesh based soft sensor for 3-dimensional shape sensing

L Xu, J Ge, JH Patel, MP Fok
Optics express 25 (20), 24727-24734
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Bidirectional soft silicone curvature sensor based on off-centered embedded fiber Bragg grating

J Ge, AE James, L Xu, Y Chen, KW Kwok, MP Fok
IEEE photonics technology letters 28 (20), 2237-2240
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3-Dimensional soft shape sensor based on dual-layer orthogonal fiber Bragg grating mesh

L Xu, J Ge, JH Patel, MP Fok
Optical Fiber Communication Conference, Th3H. 2