High-Accuracy 3D Shape Sensor Based on Anti-Twist Packaged High Uniform Multicore Fiber FBGs

Leixin Meng; Hang Xu; Yangyang Huang; Yuan Zhuang; Liqiang Wang; Chenlei Pang; Ming Zhang; Haizhong Guo; Jiahe Zhang; Fei Guo; Qing Yang

doi:10.1007/s42765-023-00285-5

Advanced Fiber Materials ›› 2023, Vol. 5 ›› Issue (4) : 1467 -1477. DOI: 10.1007/s42765-023-00285-5

Research Article

High-Accuracy 3D Shape Sensor Based on Anti-Twist Packaged High Uniform Multicore Fiber FBGs

Author information +

¹Research Center for Humanoid Sensing, Zhejiang Laboratory, 311100, Hangzhou, China

²State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering; International Research Center for Advanced Photonics, Zhejiang University, 310027, Hangzhou, China

³Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, 450001, Zhengzhou, China

⁴College of Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, 310023, Hangzhou, China

^m qingyang@zju.edu.cn

Leixin Meng

received his Ph.D. degree from School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University in 2017. He worked as a Postdoctoral researcher at School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Lanzhou University (2018-2020). He is now a research assistant at Zhejiang Lab. His research focuses on intelligent vision sensing and optical fiber shape sensing.

Hang Xu

received his bachelor's degree from Henan Polytechnic University in 2019. He is a master candidate at Zhengzhou University, majoring in Electronic Information. He has been working as an intern at Zhejiang Lab since 2022. His research interests include bionic vision sensor and optical fiber sensing.

Yangyang Huang

is a master candidate at Zhejiang University of Technology, majoring in optical fiber shape sensing.

Yuan Zhuang

received his Ph.D. degree from College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University in 2020. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Zhejiang Lab (2020-2023). His research focuses on integrated photonic circuit, optical sensing technology, silicon photonics and semiconductor laser.

Liqiang Wang

is an associate professor in the College of Optical Science and Engineering, at Zhejiang University, and principle investigator at Zhejiang Lab. He received the Ph.D. degree in Optical Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2004. His research interests include optical instrumentation, biophotonics, and image processing techniques.

Chenlei Pang

received his Ph.D. degree in Optical Engineering from Zhejiang University. Currently he is a associated researcher at Zhejiang Lab. His research interest involves the field of super-resolution imaging and semiconductor wafer defect inspection using optical methods.

Ming Zhang

was born in Hebei, China, in 1975. He received the Ph. D degree in optical engineering from Zhejiang University, China, in 2004. He is currently a Professor at Zhejiang University of Technology. His research interests are fiber sensing and communication.

Haizhong Guo

received his Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Information Materials Research at the University of Alabama (2005-2006). In 2007, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials, University of California, Davis. 2007-2008 Visiting Scientist, Department of Physics, Florida International University, USA . In 2009-2017 he was as an associate professor in Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently a professor at College of Physics, Zhengzhou University. His research interest focuses on preparation and characterization of low-dimensional structures of transition metal oxides and regulation of their physical properties, interaction between light and low-dimensional structures of oxides and ultrafine properties, and catalytic properties of low-dimensional structures.

Jiahe Zhang

received the master's degree in school of electronic science and engineering at Xi'an Jiaotong University in 2020. He is currently an engineer at Zhejiang Lab. His research interests include the measurement and control Technology, FPGA development.

Fei Guo

received his Master's Degree from St. Petersburg State University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics, majoring in optical engineering. Currently, he is an optical engineer at Zhejiang Lab. He Mainly engages in the optical design of imaging system in the field of medical endoscopy.

Qing Yang

received her Ph.D. degree from College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University in 2006. She worked as a visiting scientist at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009–2012). She worked as a visiting scientist at University of Cambridge in 2018. Currently, she is a professor at College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University. Her research focuses on micro/nanophotonics, nanomaterials, and endoscopy imaging.

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Abstract

Improving the accuracy of shape sensors based on multicore fibers (MCFs) is challenging but of great importance for real-time 3D shape detection, especially in visually inaccessible areas. In this work, a novel approach is proposed to improve MCF shape sensor accuracy using an ultraviolet transparent liquid mediated fiber Bragg grating (FBG) inscription technique and a twist-isolating packaging method. A newly developed UV index matching liquid (UV-IML) is used to generate uniform light field at all the MCF cores, enabling FBG inscription with high accuracy. Additionally, a new stress fully released (SFR) packaging method is implemented to isolate the sensor from any external twists. The MCF shape sensor shows a maximum relative error of only 3.33% and the lowest reported relative sensitivity error of 1.11% cm⁻¹. Moreover, a real-time 3D shape sensing system with a response frequency larger than 30 Hz is constructed using the unique MCF shape sensor. The highly accurate real-time 3D shape sensing results indicate potential applications for in vivo shape estimation of endoscopies and soft robots.

Graphical abstract

A highly accurate MCF shape sensor for real-time 3D shape detection in visually inaccessible areas is developed. The MCF shape sensor shows a maximum relative error of 3.33% and the lowest reported relative sensitivity error of 1.11% cm⁻¹. The novel ultraviolet index matching liquid FBG inscription method and stress fully released packaging method ensures high accuracy.

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Leixin Meng, Hang Xu, Yangyang Huang, Yuan Zhuang, Liqiang Wang, Chenlei Pang, Ming Zhang, Haizhong Guo, Jiahe Zhang, Fei Guo, Qing Yang. High-Accuracy 3D Shape Sensor Based on Anti-Twist Packaged High Uniform Multicore Fiber FBGs. Advanced Fiber Materials, 2023, 5(4): 1467-1477 DOI:10.1007/s42765-023-00285-5