Integrating hetero-core fiber optics sensor in intelligent technological textiles

In the context of the emerging Industry 4.0 paradigm, smart fabric sensors have been representing a novel addition to the textile industry. The proposed sensors utilize macro-bending techniques with varying fiber optic core sizes. The study involved the construction and testing of macro-bending sensors using single-mode (9 μm) and hetero-core (50–9–50 μm) fibers, configured into seven sinusoidal loops. The experiment was further extended to different types of elastic textiles. Spandex demonstrated superior linearity compared with jersey and rubber bands. The integration with the DOIT ESP32 DevKit facilitated real-time monitoring of respiratory rates. The results from the experiment indicated that the macro-bending sensor, fabricated using hetero-core optical fiber, exhibited superior sensitivity in comparison to the sensor assembled from single-mode optical fiber, with respective sensitivity values of 1.72 and 1.30 dB/cm. The designed sensors displayed closely aligned behavior during forward and reverse loading, indicating the reversibility of the fiber optic sensor. Given its simplistic design and low fabrication cost, the proposed sensor holds significant potential for practical applications.