Optical Force Sensors for Smart Prostheses

1. Optical Force Sensors for Smart Prostheses Jeroen Missinne1, Geert Van Steenberge1, Jan Vanfleteren1 and Peter Van Daele2 1Centre for Microsystems Technology (CMST), ELIS Department, Ghent University – IMEC 2Centre for Microsystems Technology (CMST), INTEC Department, Ghent University – IMEC Technologiepark 914A, B-9052 Gent, Belgium Jeroen.Missinne@UGent.be http://www.cmst.be Introduction Application domains “shear force” sensor Measurement of stresses acting parallel to the surface • Mechanically flexible, optical sensor • For monitoring irregular or moving surfaces • Optical sensors: high accuracy, not susceptible to EMI (Tekscan.com) (Tekscan.com) (Shadowrobot.com) Results Principle Fabricatedprototype “Optical coupling between a VCSEL and photodiode depends on the shear stress” Sensor characteristics Conclusion • Small, mechanically flexible optical shear sensor • Tunable response by selecting appropriate deformable transducer material • First prototype yielded very promising results in agreement with the simulations Acknowledgment This work is partially conducted in the framework of the project "Flexible Artificial Optical Skin" (FAOS), and is supported in part by the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT), Flanders, Belgium.The work of J. Missinne is supported by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen) under a Ph. D. fellowship.