Roughened Optical Fibers Turn Soft Sheets of Silicone Into Three-Dimensional Shape Sensors

What happened

Roughened Optical Fibers Turn Soft Sheets of Silicone Into Three-Dimensional Shape Sensors, according to Hackster.io News. Waveguides made of rubber embedded in a sheet of silicone could deliver better healthcare monitoring and even robot control. Researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have detailed a soft, conformable sheet capable of tracking shape and movement as it bends and twists — targeting wearables for healthcare and more.

"In physical therapy, you often need to gather patient data on how they are moving and stretching their arm during rehabilitation," explains first author Qufan Yu of the team's work. The soft sensor is based on fiber optics, which have a long history of use as bend sensors: the more you bend an optical fiber, the less light reaches the other end.

The twist: the team's custom-built waveguides ditch the usual glass fibers in favor of two-layers of a rubber-like material — a clear core and a black outer. Embedding multiple such waveguides in a soft silicone sheet then provides a form of 3D sensing.