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Robotic control and force-feedback applications require multi-axial force and torque sensing. One possible implementation of future sensors is seen in fiber optic force torque sensors, since the signal demodulation may be located in some distance to the actual sensor and they also do not have to include any magnetic material. This article presents a fiber Bragg grating-based force and torque sensor with six degrees of freedom. The general setup resembles a Stewart platform. Its connecting beams are formed by the fiber used to measure the deformation of the transducer. The element creating stiffness may be of arbitrary form. We demonstrate how the sensor is realized and show results of all six force and torque measurements. We present a theoretical model of the sensor. The results in this work demonstrate the feasibility of a fiber-optic force-torque sensor.

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The polarization-dependent reflection spectra of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors in polarization-maintaining fibers are influenced by shear strain. This influence can be evaluated from a tensorial coupled-mode theory approach. Yet, this approach requires the numerical integration of the four coupled-mode equations. We present an easy to handle, completely analytical treatment of the polarization-dependent reflection spectra of FBGs. We derive the required equations and compare the results to the numerical integration of the four tensorial coupled mode equations.