Title :
Senior projects in optical fiber sensing
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Eng., Ain Shams Univ., Cairo, Egypt
Abstract :
The utilization of optical fibers in the field of sensing has enabled the remote operation of optical sensing elements far from the rest of sensor optoelectronics. This is a major advantage in many applications where the presence of powering wires and electrical components at the sensing site could be a source of hazards, or the presence of a severe electromagnetic interference environment does not allow the reliable transmission of sensor data over electrical wires. With the use of a part of the optical fiber as the sensing element, coupling losses between the fiber ends and an external sensing element are avoided and an improved sensitivity could be achieved. The possibility of multiplexing sensors in a fiber-connected network using multiplexing techniques is also very interesting for multi-point sensing applications. These factors have motivated a lot of research and development in the optical fiber sensor technology which stands now as a well-established branch of photonics applications. This paper addresses the introduction of optical fiber sensors to undergraduate students in electronics and communications engineering. A senior project in optical fiber sensing is one of the ways to expose students to the field and to apply and expand their background in optical fibers and optoelectronics. The Electronics and Communications Engineering Department at The Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University has offered this project for two years now. The classifications of optical fiber sensors with respect to the nature of the sensing element and the optical signal modulation and detection techniques employed are reviewed in this paper and two senior level projects are described: a liquid level sensor and a fiber gyroscope
Keywords :
fibre optic gyroscopes; fibre optic sensors; level measurement; level meters; student experiments; Ain Shams University; Electronics and Communications Engineering Department; Faculty of Engineering; communications engineering; coupling losses; detection techniques; electrical components; electrical wires; electronics; external sensing element; fiber ends; fiber gyroscope; fiber-connected network; hazard sources; liquid level sensor; multi-point sensing applications; multiplexing sensors; multiplexing techniques; optical fiber sensing; optical fiber sensor technology; optical sensing elements; optical signal modulation; optoelectronics; photonics applications; powering wires; reliable transmission; remote operation; review; senior level projects; sensing element; sensing site; sensitivity; sensor data; sensor optoelectronics; severe electromagnetic interference environment; teaching; undergraduate students; Electromagnetic interference; Hazards; Optical coupling; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fibers; Optical modulation; Optical sensors; Optoelectronic and photonic sensors; Telecommunication network reliability; Wires;
Conference_Titel :
Teaching Photonics at Egyptian Engineering Faculties & Institutes, 1999. Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Giza
Print_ISBN :
977-5031-63-X
DOI :
10.1109/TCHPHT.1999.782475