A method and
system for detecting and measuring the braking force of a vehicle's
brake system using photonic sensors integrated into
brake pads is described. A method for detecting and measuring the clamping force (CF) and / or
brake torque (BT) resulting from the operation of a vehicle's friction brake
system by detection performed in the brake pads (10) of the brake system is described. The method includes encapsulating at least one
optical fiber strain sensor (2) in a casing (9) and incorporating the casing (9) into a respective portion of a friction-sensitive friction material (M) attached to a base plate or platform (11) of the
brake pad (10). The shear strain (St-eff) of the casing (9) acting in a tangential reference direction (x) represents the
tangential force (Ft) acting on the
brake pad (10), and the
normal force (Fn-eff) of the casing (9) acting in a normal reference direction (y) represents the
normal force (Fn) acting on the
brake pad (10). The method includes detecting, by the
optical fiber strain sensor 2, a first strain S1 (present at a first location on the casing along a first
spatial direction w1) based on both a
normal force Fn-eff and a tangential strain St-eff acting on the casing 9 at the first location, and detecting, by the
optical fiber strain sensor 2, a second strain (present at a second location on the casing along a second
spatial direction w2) based on both the normal force Fn-eff and the tangential strain St-eff acting on the casing 9 at the second location. The method includes generating, by the optical
fiber strain sensor 2, a first photonic
signal L1 representative of the first detected strain S1 and a second photonic
signal L2 representative of the second detected strain S2, and receiving, by an optical reading / interrogation unit 4 optically connected to the optical
fiber strain sensor 2, the first photonic
signal L1 and the second photonic signal L2. The method ultimately involves determining, by the optical reading / interrogation unit 4, a value of the first strain S1 and a value of the second strain S2, respectively, based on the first received optical signal L1 and the second received optical signal L2, and determining a measurement value of the clamping force CF and / or the
brake torque BT based on the determined values of the first strain S1 and the second strain S2.