A Fiber Optic Vertical Coupler for the Matrix Tactile Sensor

Abstract

This study proposes an optical fiber coupler sensitive to strain for matrix-style sensor array. It consists of a crossed fiber pair which has optical coupling through the radiated light from the grooves made on the fibers. The stress/strain is detected as a modulation of the magnitude of optical coupling. In this letter, this optical coupler has been applied to a 4 × 4 sensor array for trial, and some measurements of stress distribution are demonstrated.