Low-Cost Distributed Angle Sensor Implemented on a Fluorescent Fiber

This work proposes the fluorescent fiber implementation of an angle sensor. The distributed nature of the proposed sensor allows the simultaneous assessment of multiple angles, whereas the fluorescent fiber allows for a low-cost implementation of the module. The distributed sensing technique is based on the frequency encoding of the bending positions along the fluorescent fiber, whereas angle sensing is performed by assessing the intensity of the fluorescent radiation generated at each bending position respectively. Accordingly, the signal transmitted along the fiber consists of a superposition of DC components corresponding to the generated fluorescent radiations and AC components corresponding to the square wave frequencies encoding the bending positions respectively. Specific signal processing on the fiber receiving end, consisting mainly of bandpass filtering and decoding, allow for the implementation of the quasi-distributed angle sensing algorithm.