We report a prosthetic forefinger with distributed tactile sensing capability based on an embedded single mode fiber (SMF) sensor. We developed a human-size prosthetic forefinger by using soft silicon rubber via a fast wax-casting procedure. A strand of SMF was directly embedded along the palmar side of the prosthetic forefinger. For the first time to our knowledge, an SMF sensor is embedded in a soft silicon rubber-made prosthetic forefinger for distributed tactile sensing that eases the fabrication processes and affords judicious way in large-area, high-resolution applications. Our tactile sensor is interrogated with a distributed Rayleigh backscattering-based optical frequency domain reflectometry system. A series of experiments were conducted to verify the proposed tactile sensor. The reported soft silicon rubber-made prosthetic forefinger with built-in fiber optic sensors opens up promising possibilities for the development of sensing abilities and feedback strategies in artificial intelligence.
- Backscattering,
- Fibers,
- Frequency domain analysis,
- Optical fiber fabrication,
- Optical fibers,
- Prosthetics,
- Rubber,
- Rubber applications,
- Silicon,
- Single mode fibers,
- Fabrication process,
- Feedback strategies,
- Optical frequency domain reflectometry,
- Rayleigh backscattering,
- Sensing abilities,
- Silicon rubbers,
- Single-mode optical fiber,
- Tactile sensing, Fiber optic sensors,
- Distributed tactile sensing,
- Prosthetic forefinger
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jie-huang/78/