Hetero-core Fiber Optic Sensor Research Articles

Smart Pressure Sensing Mats with Embedded Hetero-Core Fiber Optic Nerve Sensors

In this article, we propose a smart mat application in the form of a thin mat placed on the floor designed for monitoring human motion, and specifically of a sole pressure mapping mat that uses hetero-core fiber optic nerve sensors. In addition to several advantages conferred by the use of optical fibers, namely, light weight, minimal use of material, and resistance to corrosion and electromagnetic interference, the novel hetero-core optic fiber nerve sensor is sensitive to the bending action of the hetero-core portion, and its fiber transmission line is unaffected by external disturbances such as pressure and temperature fluctuations owing to its single-mode stable propagation scheme. Therefore, the hetero-core fiber optic nerve sensor shows potential application for the distributed pressure sensing of natural human activities and for installation at various sites. Here, we successfully demonstrate the use of a distributed pressure sensing mat using hetero-core nerve sensors in detecting human activities in a bathroom by monitoring the motions of walking and falling and by sole pressure mapping.

Distributed Pressure Sensing as Smart Mat Applications with Hetero-Core Fiber Optic Nerve Sensors

Distributed pressure sensing schemes for human positioning and plantar mapping is desired to be unconstrained for human activity in their daily life in the form of a floor and mat. On the other hand, an optical fiber has several advantages such as lightweight, minimal material, and resistance to corrosion and electromagnetic interference. Additionally, a novel hetero-core optic fiber nerve sensor is only sensitive to be bending action of the sensor portion and the fiber transmission line is unaffected to external disturbance as pressure and temperature fluctuation because of its single-mode stable propagation scheme. Therefore, the hetero-core fiber optic sensor could be suitable for the distributed pressure sensing in human natural activity and be placed in various sites. In this paper, we proposed several smart mat applications in the form of a thin mat in the floor for human positioning and sole pressure mapping mat using the hetero-core optic fiber sensors. We successfully demonstrated the distributed pressure sensing mat using hetero-core sensors to detect human positioning with their circumstance and sole pressure mapping.

ヘテロコア型光ファイバを用いたセンシングと情報通信との融合システム

ヘテロコア型光ファイバを用いたセンシングと情報通信との融合システム