Roughened Optical Fibers Turn Soft Sheets of Silicone into Three-Dimensional Shape Sensors
Researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have detailed a soft, conformable sheet capable of tracking shape and movement as it bends and twists — targeting wearables for healthcare and more.
"In physical therapy, you often need to gather patient data on how they are moving and stretching their arm during rehabilitation," explains first author Qufan Yu of the team's work. "Surface shape sensing could be very useful in that way. Our setup is targeting fully soft and stretchable sensing surfaces so it’s potentially safer for interacting with a human or a soft environment."
The soft sensor is based on fiber optics, which have a long history of use as bend sensors: the more you bend an optical fiber, the less light reaches the other end. The twist: the team's custom-built waveguides ditch the usual glass fibers in favor of two-layers of a...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.hackster.io. To see the full text click HERE
