Fiber Optic Sensor "Hands On” Course

Fiber optic sensor technology offers a series of advantages with respect to prior art electrical sensors that are changing the way many current products are built and will open up the opportunity for many new systems. The light weight and small size of fiber sensors are strongly complemented by their strong immunity to electromagnetic interference eliminating the need for heavy and costly shielding. The result has been widespread interest in applying this technology to aerospace structures where weight is critical. The technology is also beginning to penetrate the civil structure application area with installations on bridges and freeways.  Other important market areas include oil and gas process and control, environmental sensing and naval applications.  Because the fiber sensors are made of glass they can tolerate wide temperature ranges, and high levels of vibration and shock.  This course provides an overview of this technology and makes extensive use of laboratories and demonstrations to allow participants to understand how these devices are built and work.

 

Instructors

 

Eric Udd, President of Blue Road Research, has been deeply involved with fiber optic sensors since 1977 and in the area of fiber optic smart structures since approximately 1982.  While at McDonnell Douglas, from 1977 to 1993, he managed over 20 DoD, NASA and internally funded fiber optic sensor programs.  In addition, he was elected as one of 40 McDonnell Douglas Fellows, the youngest person at that time to achieve that position.  In 1993 he left McDonnell Douglas and founded Blue Road Research, dedicating the company to the development of fiber optic sensor and smart structure technology.  Mr. Udd has been involved in the area of fiber optic smart structures since its inception.  He has 34 issued US Patents and several more pending on fiber optic technology, has written and or presented over 120 papers and has chaired over 20 international conferences on fiber optic sensor and smart structure technology.  Mr. Udd is a Fellow of SPIE- the International Society of Optical Engineering, and a member of OSA, IEEE and LEOS. 

Dr. Stephen Kreger is a Senior Engineer/Scientist at Blue Road Research.  Dr. Kreger earned a BS in Physics at Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. in Terre Haute IN in 1989; he went on to earn his PhD from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester.  While there he investigated the thermal and electrical limitations to high-speed photon counting with avalanche photodiodes, and applied his results to video frame rate fluorescence imaging of biological samples using a confocal scanning laser microscope.  In 1997 he won a NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at NIST Boulder where he developed high-accuracy ellipsometers and polarimeters, and worked with optical data storage disc tester manufacturers to improve the accuracy of substrate birefringence measurements.  At Blue Road Research, Stephen is principal investigator on several projects.  He specializes in intrinsic and extrinsic multi-axis fiber grating strain, temperature, pressure, and moisture sensors and in advanced demodulation techniques.

Marley Kunzler is an Engineer/Scientist at Blue Road Research, with a background BS in Laser Optical Engineering Technology from the Oregon Institute of Technology. He is an associate principle investigator on the Phase II contracts: "Fiber Grating Sensor System to Determine Motor Case Damage" sponsored by Edwards Air Force Base, and "In-Situ Evaluation of Composite Structural Performance in Presence of High Stress/Strain Gradients Using Multi-Axis Fiber Grating Strain Sensors" sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.  In addition, he is involved in several ongoing research projects involving fiber Bragg gratings.  Mr. Kunzler has acted as project lead/associate principal investigator on several contracts with the Oregon Department of Transportation.  He is heavily involved in Blue Road Research educational course teaching and supports the company computer network management.  He also assists with lab equipment, heavily supports field-testing, and designs customized software for contract support and testing. 

 

Some of the Companies Who Have Attended This Class:

• Sandia National Laboratory  • Boeing  • Ford Motor Company
 • Los Alamos National Laboratory  • Westinghouse  • Department of Energy
• Corning  • Numerous Government Agencies and Universities

Day One

Fiber optic sensors are comprised of light sources, modulators, light beam conditioning optics, optical fiber and detectors. These components will be reviewed and the interrelationship between their operation and characteristics and fiber sensor performance described.

 

Morning Lectures

Ø      Fundamental Components and Concepts

Ø      Intensity Based Fiber Optic Sensors

Ø      Spectral Reflection Based Fiber Optic Sensors

•  

Afternoon Laboratories and Demonstrations

Ø      Handling and use of common fiber optic sensor components, hardware, and safety

Ø      Students will become familiar with the splicing, cleaving and assembly techniques associated with fiber optic sensors

Ø      Demonstration of high speed and long gage sensor systems

Ø      Students will build a liquid level fiber optic sensor

 

Day Two

Interferometric fiber optic sensors have very high sensitivity and have been successfully developed for such applications as navigation, seismic sensing and intrusion control.

 

Morning Lectures

Ø      The Mach-Zehnder and Michelson Interferometers

Ø      Multiplexing and Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors

The Sagnac Interferometer

 

Afternoon Laboratories and Demonstrations

Students will build a Sagnac interferometer to demonstrate the measurement of rotation and acoustic signals

Fiber Bragg gratings as sensors, high-speed demodulation, and multi-axis grating systems are covered

A voice-sensitive system will be demonstrated

 

Day Three

One of the most exciting fields of fiber optic sensors is the area of fiber optic smart structures where hair thin optical fibers are placed in composite materials to measure such parameters as temperature, pressure and strain. The application areas range from improving the manufacturing process to health and damage assessment systems. This part of the course will provide an overview of fiber optic sensors that are appropriate for fiber optic smart structures and examples of how they are being applied.

 

Morning Lectures

Ø      Fiber Grating Sensors

Ø      Fiber Optic Smart Structures

Ø      Environmental Sensors

 

Afternoon Laboratories and Demonstrations

Ø      Polarization effects will be studied in conjunction with the Sagnac and

Mach-Zehnder interferometers

Ø      Demodulation techniques and data acquisition systems such as OSAs, wavemeters, and receivers will be reviewed

Ø      Students will be able to gain additional practice, look at individual applications, and have additional questions answered