Shang Ce, Fu Bo, Tuo Jialin, Guo Xiaoyan, Li Zhuozhou, Wang Zhixin, Xu Lijun, Guo Jingjing
School of Instrumentation and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Nov 22;15(46):53264-53272. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c12712. Epub 2023 Nov 7.
Tactile sensors with high softness and multisensory functions are highly desirable for applications in humanoid robotics, smart prosthetics, and human-machine interfaces. Here, we report a soft biomimetic fiber-optic tactile (SBFT) sensor that offers skin-like tactile sensing abilities to perceive and discriminate temperature and pressure. The SBFT sensor is fabricated by encapsulating a macrobent fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in an elastomeric droplet-shaped structure that results in two optical resonances associated with the FBG and excited whispering gallery modes (WGMs) propagating along the bent region. Benefiting from the different thermo-optic and stress-optic effects of FBG and WGM resonances, the pressure and temperature can be fully decoupled with a high precision of 0.2 °C and 0.8 mN, respectively. To achieve a compact system for signal demodulation, a single-cavity dual-comb fiber laser is developed to interrogate the SBFT sensor based on dual-comb spectroscopy, which enables fast spectral sampling with a single photodiode. We show that the SBFT sensor is capable of perceiving pressure, temperature, and hardness in touching soft tissues and human skins, demonstrating great promise for soft tissue palpation and human-like robotic perception.
具有高柔软度和多感官功能的触觉传感器在仿人机器人、智能假肢和人机接口等应用中具有很高的需求。在此，我们报道了一种柔软的仿生光纤触觉（SBFT）传感器，它具有类似皮肤的触觉传感能力，能够感知和区分温度与压力。SBFT传感器是通过将一个大弯曲光纤布拉格光栅（FBG）封装在一个弹性体液滴状结构中制成的，该结构产生了与FBG相关的两种光学共振以及沿弯曲区域传播的受激回音壁模式（WGMs）。受益于FBG和WGM共振不同的热光效应和应力光效应，压力和温度能够以分别为0.2°C和0.8 mN的高精度完全解耦。为了实现用于信号解调的紧凑系统，开发了一种单腔双梳光纤激光器，基于双梳光谱对SBFT传感器进行询问，这使得用单个光电二极管就能进行快速光谱采样。我们展示了SBFT传感器能够感知触摸软组织和人体皮肤时的压力、温度和硬度，在软组织触诊和类人机器人感知方面展现出巨大潜力。
