Implementation of Phase Generated Carrier Technique for FBG Laser Sensor Multiplexed System Based on Compact RIO

This paper presents the fundamental technique of phase generated carrier （PGC） and its realization on compact reconfigurable input and output （RIO） which adopts real-time and field programmable grate array （FPGA） techniques. Improvement of the PGC technique is also introduced by using peak-to-peak value detection method to reduce the influence of variation of the light intensity. A four-element fibre Bragg gratings （FBG） laser sensor system is conducted in the experiment and the demodulated results demonstrate correlation coefficient as high as 0.995 with the reference signal and the dynamic range to be 120dB@63Hz.

Design and application of thickness measurement calibration system based on laser displacement sensor

This study aims to improve the accuracy and safety of steel plate thickness calibration.A differential noncontact thickness measurement calibration system based on laser displacement sensors was designed to address the problems of low precision of traditional contact thickness gauges and radiation risks of radiation-based thickness gauges.First,the measurement method and measurement structure of the thickness calibration system were introduced.Then,the hardware circuit of the thickness system was established based on the STM32 core chip.Finally,the system software was designed to implement system control to filter algorithms and human-computer interaction.Experiments have proven the excellent performance of the differential noncontact thickness measurement calibration system based on laser displacement sensors,which not only considerably improves measurement accuracy but also effectively reduces safety risks during the measurement process.The system offers guiding significance and application value in the field of steel plate production and processing.

Fiber Laser Sensor Based on a Phase-Shifted Chirped Grating for Acoustic Sensing of Partial Discharges

Acoustic emission monitoring is often used in the diagnosis of electrical and mechanical incipient faults in the high voltage apparatus. Partial discharges are a major source of insulation failure in electric power transformers, and the differentiation from other sources of acoustic emission is of the utmost importance. This paper reports the development of a new sensor concept - a fiber laser sensor based on a phase-shifted chirped fiber grating - for the acoustic emission detection of incipient faults in oil-filled power transformers. These sensors can be placed in the inner surface of the transformer tank wall, not affecting the insulation integrity of the structure and improving fault detection and location. The performance of the sensing head is characterized and compared for different surrounding media： air, water, and oil. The results obtained indicate the feasibility of this sensing approach for the industrial development of practical solutions.

High frame rate multi-resonance imaging refractometry with distributed feedback dye laser sensor

High frame rate and highly sensitive imaging of refractive index changes on a surface is very promising for studying the dynamics of dissolution,mixing and biological processes without the need for labeling.Here,a highly sensitive distributed feedback(DFB)dye laser sensor for high frame rate imaging refractometry without moving parts is presented.DFB dye lasers are low-cost and highly sensitive refractive index sensors.The unique multi-wavelength DFB laser structure presented here comprises several areas with different grating periods.Imagingin two dimensions of space is enabled by analyzinglaser light from all areasin parallelwith an imaging spectrometer.With this multi-resonance imaging refractometry method,the spatial position in one direction is identified from the horizontal,i.e.,spectral position of the multiple laser lines which is obtained from the spectrometer charged coupled device(CCD)array.The orthogonal spatial position is obtained from the vertical spatial position on the spectrometer CCD array as in established spatially resolved spectroscopy.Here,the imaging technique is demonstrated by monitoring the motion of small sucrose molecules upon dissolution of solid sucrose in water.The omission of moving parts improves the robustness of the imaging system and allows a very high frame rate of up to 12 Hz.

A Rapid Calibration Technique for Scanning Line-Structured Laser Sensor

A novel procedure to calibrate the scanning line-structured laser sensor is presented. A drone composed of two orthogonal planes is designed, with the result that camera parameters and light-plane equation parameters is achieved simultaneously.

DFB fiber laser sensor for simultaneous measurement of acoustic and magnetic fields

A novel distributed feedback（DFB） fiber laser sensor, which can measure acoustic and magnetic fields simultaneously, is proposed. The magnetic field can be measured by detecting the change of resonant frequency of the fiber laser, and the acoustic pressure can be measured by detecting the phase shift of the fiber laser. Both of the signals can be simultaneously demodulated in the frequency domain without affecting each other. Experimental studies show that the acoustic pressure sensitivity of this sensor is about-130 d B（0 dB re 1 pm∕μPa） and the sensor has a good linearity with a magnetic field sensitivity of 0.57 Hz∕mT.

Deformation analysis of the flexspline of harmonic drive gears considering the driving speed effect using laser sensors

Accurate description of the elastic deformation of the flexspline is the foundation for optimization design of the structure and conjugate profiles of the harmonic drive gear. This paper proposed an experimental method to investigate the effect of the driving speed on the deformation characteristics of the flexspline. First, an experimental apparatus that integrates a special-fabricated micro-displacement platform and a pair of laser displacement sensors is developed, and the radial displacement of the flexspline is measured in vertical and horizontal directions. Next, the deformation analyses of the flexspline at different driving speeds are performed with our method and the conventional method, and the comparison results reveal that the radial displacement of the flexspline is actually composed of both harmonic and random components, and the amplitude decreases and tends to zero with the increase of the driving speed, especially near the closed end of the flexspline. Last, the mechanisms of the inherent multi-frequency and amplitude attenuation characteristics of the radial displacement of the flexspline are discussed. It is indicated that the impact and friction existing in the flexible bearing of the wave generator is likely responsible for the existence of the random component, and the assumption of linear distribution of the ftexspline deformation along the rotating axis is invalid under high speed condition. Our research promotes the further study on the contact-impact problem of the flexible bearing of the wave generator and the transfer characteristic of the elastic deformation of the flexspline.

Laser-Assisted Reduction of Highly Conductive Circuits Based on Copper Nitrate for Flexible Printed Sensors

Stretchable electronic sensing devices are defining the path toward wearable electronics. High-performance flexible strain sensors attached on clothing or human skin are required for potential applications in the entertainment,health monitoring, and medical care sectors. In this work,conducting copper electrodes were fabricated onpolydimethylsiloxane as sensitive stretchable microsensors by integrating laser direct writing and transfer printing approaches. The copper electrode was reduced from copper salt using laser writing rather than the general approach of printing with pre-synthesized copper or copper oxide nanoparticles. An electrical resistivity of 96 l X cm was achieved on 40-lm-thick Cu electrodes on flexible substrates. The motion sensing functionality successfully demonstrated a high sensitivity and mechanical robustness.This in situ fabrication method leads to a path toward electronic devices on flexible substrates.

Flexible Scanning Method by Integrating Laser Line Sensors with Articulated Arm Coordinate Measuring Machines

Measuring and reconstructing the shape of workpieces have been considered as a fundamental step in both reverse engineering and product quality control.Owing to increasing structural complexity of recent products,measurements from multiple directions are typically required in current scanning techniques.Specifically,the plane structured light can be applied to measure one area of a part at a time,with an additional algorithm required to merge the collected data of each area.Alternatively,the line structured light sensor integrated on CNC machines or CMMs could also realize multi-view measurement.However,the system needs to be repeatedly calibrated at each new direction.This paper presents a flexible scanning method by integrating laser line sensors with articulated arm coordinate measuring machines(AACMM).Since the output of the laser line sensor is 2D raw data in the laser plane,our system model introduces an explicit transformation from the 2D sensor coordinate frame to the 3D base coordinate frame of the AACMM(i.e.,the translation and rotation the of the 2D sensor coordinate in the sixth coordinate system of AACMM).To solve the model,the“conjugate pairs”are proposed and identified by measuring a fixed point(e.g.,a sphere center).Moreover,a search algorithm is adopted to find the optimal solution,which noticeably boosts the model accuracy.The experimental results show that the error of the system is about 0.2 mm,which is caused by the error of the AACMM,the sensor error and the calibration error.By measuring a complicated part,the proposed system is proved to be flexible and facilitate,with the ability to measure a part expediently from any necessary direction.Furthermore,the proposed calibration method can also be used for robot hand-eye relationship calibration.

Design and Research of Active Heave Compensation System Based on Laser Ranging Sensor

Marine resource exploitation and marine cargo transportation were increasingly frequent. Due to the impact of the marine environment, ships or platforms were affected. In this paper, a servo electric cylinder was used as a wave compensation actuator to design a wave compensation system. The laser sensor was used to measure the displacement in the direction of the heave platform, and the obtained displacement was applied to the wave compensation in the heave direction to verify the feasibility of the compensation system.

Influences of semiconductor laser on fibre-optic distributed disturbance sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer

This paper investigates the influences of a semiconductor laser with narrow linewidth on a fibre-optic distributed disturbance sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer. It establishes an effective numerical model to describe the noises and linewidth of a semiconductor laser, taking into account their correlations. Simulation shows that frequency noise has great influences on location errors and their relationship is numerically investigated. Accordingly, there is need to determine the linewidth of the laser less than a threshold and obtain the least location errors. Furthermore, experiments are performed by a sensor prototype using three semiconductor lasers with different linewidths, respectively, with polarization maintaining optical fibres and couplers to eliminate the polarization induced noises and fading. The agreement of simulation with experimental results means that the proposed numerical model can make a comprehensive description of the noise behaviour of a semiconductor laser. The conclusion is useful for choosing a laser source for fibre-optic distributed disturbance sensor to achieve optimized location accuracy. What is more, the proposed numerical model can be widely used for analysing influences of semiconductor lasers on other sensing, communication and optical signal processing systems.

Compact fiber-optic diode-laser sensor system for wide-dynamic-range relative humidity measurement

A compact fiber-optic diode-laser sensor system for measuring relative humidity is studied. In such a system, a distributed feedback laser lasing near 1877 nm is used as light source while a high-precision Pt resistance as temperature sensor, an accuracy of 0.1% relative-humidity can be achieved. The laser sensor system is able to lock to the absorption peak and calculate the density of water vapor without any additional reference measurements. Using programs built in to the microcontroller unit, the laser system can switch functions between direct measurement at high density and second-harmonic detection at low density. The system can switch between the two modes automatically and work in a wide dynamic range.

Laser self-mixing interference fibre sensor

Fibre sensors exhibit a number of advantages over other sensors such as high sensitivity, electric insulation, corrosion resistance, interference rejection and so on. And laser self-mixing interference can accurately detect the phase difference of feedback light. In this paper, a novel laser self-mixing interference fibre sensor that combines the advantages of fibre sensors with those of laser self-mixing interference is presented. Experimental configurations are set up to study the relationship between laser power output and phase of laser feedback light when the fibre trembles or when the fibre is stretched or pressed. The theoretical analysis of pressure sensors based on laser self-mixing interference is indicated to accord with the experimental results.

Laser Deposition of Tetrasulfonated Phthalocyanine Layers for Gas Sensors

Thin layers of nickel and copper tetrasulfonated phthalocyanines (NiPcTS and CuPcTS) were prepared by Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation method. The depositions were carried out with KrF excimer laser (energy density of laser radiation EL = 0.1 to 0.5 J.cm-2) from dimethylsulfoxide matrix. For both materials the ablation threshold EL-th was determined. The following properties of deposited layers were characterized: a) chemical composition (FTIR spectra);b) morphology (SEM and AFM portraits);c) impedance of gas sensors based on NiPcTS and CuPcTS layers in the presence of two analytes - hydrogen and ozone. The prepared sensors exhibit response to 1000 ppm of hydrogen and 100 ppb of ozone even at laboratory temperature.

多传感器融合的SLAM算法在林业智能化的应用与改进

同步定位与建图(SLAM)算法可实现机器人在未知环境下的定位,并对周围环境构建增量式地图,是机器人实现自主导航的基础。针对单一传感器(全球导航卫星系统(GNSS)、激光、相机等)的SLAM算法在林区环境存在定位精度低、构建的地图一致性较差的问题,提出了多传感器融合的SLAM算法在林业智能化的应用与改进。首先,联合使用激光雷达、单目相机、惯导对林区环境构建三维点云地图的同时对林业机器人进行实时定位;其次,提出以时间为约束的RS-T回环帧搜索法,进行候选回环帧搜索。结果表明:针对M2DGR数据集,RS-LVI-SAM算法与当前经典的SLAM算法对比,RS-LVI-SAM算法生成轨迹的均方根误差与标准差分别为0.09和0.04 m,定位精度最高;在林区场景中,RS-LVI-SAM算法建立的林区点云地图中侧柏的胸径与真实胸径的均方根误差与绝对平均误差分别为1.27、1.16 cm,建图效果最佳;生成的轨迹与真实轨迹的均方根误差与绝对平均误差分别为0.46、0.34 m,定位精度最高。因此,RS-LVI-SAM算法可以实现林区环境下的精准定位与林区点云地图构建,为机器人林区作业提供了技术支撑。

Calibration of laser beam direction based on monocular vision

In the laser displacement sensors measurement system,the laser beam direction is an important parameter.Particularly,the azimuth and pitch angles are the most important parameters to a laser beam.In this paper,based on monocular vision,a laser beam direction measurement method is proposed.First,place the charge coupled device(CCD)camera above the base plane,and adjust and fix the camera position so that the optical axis is nearly perpendicular to the base plane.The monocular vision localization model is established by using circular aperture calibration board.Then the laser beam generating device is placed and maintained on the base plane at fixed position.At the same time a special target block is placed on the base plane so that the laser beam can project to the special target and form a laser spot.The CCD camera placed above the base plane can acquire the laser spot and the image of the target block clearly,so the two-dimensional(2D)image coordinate of the centroid of the laser spot can be extracted by correlation algorithm.The target is moved at an equal distance along the laser beam direction,and the spots and target images of each moving under the current position are collected by the CCD camera.By using the relevant transformation formula and combining the intrinsic parameters of the target block,the2D coordinates of the gravity center of the spot are converted to the three-dimensional(3D)coordinate in the base plane.Because of the moving of the target,the3D coordinates of the gravity center of the laser spot at different positions are obtained,and these3D coordinates are synthesized into a space straight line to represent the laser beam to be measured.In the experiment,the target parameters are measured by high-precision instruments,and the calibration parameters of the camera are calibrated by a high-precision calibration board to establish the corresponding positioning model.The measurement accuracy is mainly guaranteed by the monocular vision positioning accuracy and the gravity center extraction accuracy.The experimental results show the maximum error of the angle between laser beams reaches to0.04°and the maximum error of beam pitch angle reaches to0.02°.

Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)-Fiber Ring Laser and Its Application to Stress Sensing

We have developed a novel optical fiber ring laser using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as the gain medium, and taking advantage of polarization anisotropy of its gain. The frequency difference of the bi-directional laser is controlled by birefringence which is introduced in the ring laser cavity. The beat frequency generated by combining two counter-propagating oscillations is proportional to the birefringence, the fiber ring laser of the present study is, therefore, applicable to the fiber sensor. The sensing signal is obtained in a frequency domain with the material which causes the retardation change by a physical phenomenon to be measured. For the application to stress sensing, the present laser was investigated with a photoelastic material.

Digital Receiver for Laser Imaging Radar

With the extension of the application domains for laser imaging radar, it is necessary to find a new technical way to obtain high technical performance and adaptive ability. In this paper, A new concept of digital receiver of laser imaging radar system is presented. This digital receiver is defined as a time varying parameter receiver which possesses large dynamics region and time domain filter. The receiver’s mode, component structure as well as every function of its processing are described. The results and laboratorial data show the feasibility of digital reception. Also, it can exploit the inherent nature of laser imaging radar to obtain high probability of detection.

Optical feedback characteristics in a dual-frequency laser during laser cavity tuning

The optical feedback characteristics in a Zeeman-birefringence dual-frequency laser are studied during the laser cavity tuning in three different kinds of optical feedback conditions： （i） only //-light is fed back; （ii） only ⊥-light is fed back; （iii） both lights are fed back. A compact displacement sensor is designed using the experimental result that there is a nearly 90 degrees phase delay between the two lights＇ cosine optical feedback signals when both lights are fed back into the laser cavity. The priority order that the two lights＇ intensity curves appear can be used for direction discrimination. The resolution of the displacement sensor is at least 79 rim, and the sensor can discriminate the target＇s moving direction easily.

Applicability Evaluation of a Laser Light-Mater Interaction Based Computational Tool on Status Identification of Applied Micro-Structured Coatings

The current work aims at evaluating a proposed method based on a computational tool developed using Object-Oriented Programming to identify the status of micro-structured surfaces. In this case, these are micro-structured coatings with riblet microstructure developed by Fraunhofer Institute–IFAM, by building a graphical reproduction of the analyzed surface and calculating an expected laser reflection intensity acquired by a laser sensor device, the proposed method is assessed by using the simplest case: a flat surface, and an optimal case: an intact riblet surface. The results corroborate the calculations to be applied to further steps from more complex cases of degradation and to diverse riblets geometries. Based on Huygens-Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction theories, the calculations developed and demonstrated in this paper improved the nondestructive tests to support the status identification of the micro structured coatings, e.g. riblet structures based on shark skin used in shipping and aerospace industries. This work is assured required quality of the riblet coating identifying the number of structures and expected geometry using implemented calculations to foresee the laser reflection intensity acquired by a laser sensor device with 3 detectors, for instance, a riblet structure could be graphically reproduced, analyzed and completely identified based on the application of the theoretical optics applied on this work.