Design of a glove-based optical fiber sensor for applications in biomechatronics

The development of a glove-based sensor using flexible optical fiber microbending transducers for applications in biomechatronics is reported. The devices are attached onto the dorsal surface of monitored joint, resulting in the detection of variations of ~4° in angular displacements. In addition, the sensor system was evaluated for the real-time detection of hand movements, as well as for the assessment of grasping patterns during the manipulation of cylindrical objects. The preliminary experiments indicated that sensor could be suitable for practical applications in robot-assisted rehabilitation and diagnosis of impaired subjects.