PHOSFOS: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|European optical sensing project}}

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[[File:Phosfos logo.jpg|thumbnail|right|400px]]

'''PhoSFOSPHOSFOS''' (Photonic Skins For Optical Sensing) is a [[Research and development|research and technology development]] project co-funded by the [[European Commission]].

==Project Description==

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[[File:PhosFos flexible skin demo.jpg|thumbnail|right|400px|Figure 2: Photograph of a real flexible skin with embedded sensors made at the [[Ghent University]]]]

The PHOSFOS (Photonic Skins For Optical Sensing) project<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.phosfos.eu/eng/Phosfos/About-us/Project-Summary |title=Project Summary / About us / Phosfos / Home - PHOSFOS - Photonic Skins for Optical Sensing |access-date=2011-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127030416/http://www.phosfos.eu/eng/Phosfos/About-us/Project-Summary |archive-date=2011-11-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> is developing flexible and stretchable foils or skins that integrate optical sensing elements with optical and electrical devices, such as onboard signal processing and wireless communications, as seen in Figure 1. These flexible skins can be wrapped around, embedded in, and anchored to irregularly shaped or moving objects and allow quasi-distributed sensing of mechanical quantities such as deformation, pressure, stress, and strain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://spie.org/x38859.xml?highlight=x2406&ArticleID=x38859|title = Artificial skin based on flexible optical tactile sensors}}</ref> This approach offers advantages over conventional sensing systems, such as increased portability and measurement range.

The sensing technology is based around sensing elements called [[Fiber Bragg Grating]]s (FBGs) that are fabricated in standard single core silica fibers, highly birefringent [[Microstructured fiber]]s (MSF) and [[Plastic optical fiber]]s (POF). The silica MSFs are designed to exhibit almost zero temperature sensitivity to cope with the traditional temperature cross-sensitivity issues of conventional fiber sensors. These specialty fibers are being modeled, designed, and fabricated within the programme. FBGs implemented in plastic optical fiber are also being studied because plastic fibers can be stretched up to 300% before breaking, permitting use under conditions that would result in catastrophic failure of other types of strain sensors.