Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor
A thin McKibben artificial muscle is a pneumatic actuator with an outer diameter of only 1.8 mm. We fabricated a string-shaped actuator called an “active string actuator,” which achieves a high contractile displacement by accumulating thin McKibben artificial muscles. To control the displacement, th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/9/3232 |
| _version_ | 1797502903247699968 |
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| author | Weihang Tian Shuichi Wakimoto Takefumi Kanda Daisuke Yamaguchi |
| author_facet | Weihang Tian Shuichi Wakimoto Takefumi Kanda Daisuke Yamaguchi |
| author_sort | Weihang Tian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A thin McKibben artificial muscle is a pneumatic actuator with an outer diameter of only 1.8 mm. We fabricated a string-shaped actuator called an “active string actuator,” which achieves a high contractile displacement by accumulating thin McKibben artificial muscles. To control the displacement, the length of the active string actuator should be estimated. However, this is difficult because bulky and rigid sensors are unsuitable for the sensor element of the active string actuator. Therefore, in this study, we propose a new sensing method for estimating the length of an active string actuator. The proposed sensing system is simple and comprises only three components: a step-index multimode optical fiber, a light emitter, and a light receiver. A step-index multimode optical fiber was combined with the active string actuator, and the length was estimated from the change in the amount of light propagating in the optical fiber when the active string actuator was driven. Fundamental experiments were conducted in this study, and the results demonstrated that the optical fiber sensor value changed with the actuator length. This suggests that it is possible to estimate the displacement of an active string actuator using an optical fiber sensor. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:42:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-372ab7c1608e47ae9b25f6d41541144c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:42:48Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-372ab7c1608e47ae9b25f6d41541144c2023-11-23T09:15:22ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202022-04-01229323210.3390/s22093232Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber SensorWeihang Tian0Shuichi Wakimoto1Takefumi Kanda2Daisuke Yamaguchi3Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, JapanGraduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, JapanGraduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, JapanGraduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, JapanA thin McKibben artificial muscle is a pneumatic actuator with an outer diameter of only 1.8 mm. We fabricated a string-shaped actuator called an “active string actuator,” which achieves a high contractile displacement by accumulating thin McKibben artificial muscles. To control the displacement, the length of the active string actuator should be estimated. However, this is difficult because bulky and rigid sensors are unsuitable for the sensor element of the active string actuator. Therefore, in this study, we propose a new sensing method for estimating the length of an active string actuator. The proposed sensing system is simple and comprises only three components: a step-index multimode optical fiber, a light emitter, and a light receiver. A step-index multimode optical fiber was combined with the active string actuator, and the length was estimated from the change in the amount of light propagating in the optical fiber when the active string actuator was driven. Fundamental experiments were conducted in this study, and the results demonstrated that the optical fiber sensor value changed with the actuator length. This suggests that it is possible to estimate the displacement of an active string actuator using an optical fiber sensor.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/9/3232thin artificial muscleactive string actuatorstep-index multimode optical fiberdisplacement sensing |
| spellingShingle | Weihang Tian Shuichi Wakimoto Takefumi Kanda Daisuke Yamaguchi Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor Sensors thin artificial muscle active string actuator step-index multimode optical fiber displacement sensing |
| title | Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor |
| title_full | Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor |
| title_fullStr | Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor |
| title_short | Displacement Sensing of an Active String Actuator Using a Step-Index Multimode Optical Fiber Sensor |
| title_sort | displacement sensing of an active string actuator using a step index multimode optical fiber sensor |
| topic | thin artificial muscle active string actuator step-index multimode optical fiber displacement sensing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/9/3232 |
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