Bend-enhanced fiber optic sensors in a teleoperation application

Lee A. Danisch; Walter Thompson; Abraham Ele; Dennis Lovely; Bernard Hudgins; Edmund Biden; Robert Caldwell; James W. Snow; Ian B. MacKay; Kamel Aite

doi:10.1117/12.169949

9 March 1994 Bend-enhanced fiber optic sensors in a teleoperation application

Lee A. Danisch, Walter Thompson, Abraham Ele, Dennis Lovely, Bernard Hudgins, Edmund Biden, Robert Caldwell, James W. Snow, Ian B. MacKay, Kamel Aite

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2070, Fiber Optic and Laser Sensors XI; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.169949
Event: Optical Tools for Manufacturing and Advanced Automation, 1993, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

Bend enhanced fiber (BEF) sensors are curvature-measuring optical analogs of elongation- measuring resistance strain gauges. They are made by treating optical fibers to have an optically absorptive zone along a thin axial stripe a few millimeters long. Light transmission through the fiber past this zone then becomes a robust function of curvature, three orders of magnitude more sensitive to bending than in the untreated fiber. Directionality and polarity of curvature are preserved in the light transmission function, over a linear range covering five orders of magnitude, centered about zero curvature. This paper describes a project in which BEF sensors were used to improve teleoperation of a small mobile robot, by instrumenting joint angles, an extension, and four forces. The operator, who formerly had only a televised view from a camera on the robot, now has additional information on a computer screen showing these parameters in graphical form. This information, provided entirely from fiber optic sensors, makes it considerably easier to manipulate the robot. The project also included demonstrations of a multiplexing system for larger BEF arrays, use of BEF sensors in prosthetics, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of a light absorptive coating on BEF sensors.

Citation Download Citation

Lee A. Danisch, Walter Thompson, Abraham Ele, Dennis Lovely, Bernard Hudgins, Edmund Biden, Robert Caldwell, James W. Snow, Ian B. MacKay, and Kamel Aite "Bend-enhanced fiber optic sensors in a teleoperation application", Proc. SPIE 2070, Fiber Optic and Laser Sensors XI, (9 March 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.169949

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