Intelligent glove system based on flexible polymer optical waveguide

Abstract

The invention discloses an intelligent glove system based on a flexible polymer optical waveguide. The glove adopts a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microstructure waveguide as a sensing unit, so that better stretchability and sensing performance can be obtained. The waveguide is cascaded with a commercial polymer optical fiber, and five waveguide-optical fiber sensing units are sewn at finger and metacarpal joints of five fingers of the fabric glove by using a knitting method, so that a data glove capable of monitoring finger and metacarpal joint bending action is designed and manufactured. According to the intelligent glove system, the micro camera is used for capturing optical signal image information, caused by gesture actions, of the waveguide-optical fiber sensing unit, then image gray scale data are processed through the control unit to recognize the gesture actions, and communication and control are conducted through the Bluetooth technology and other interaction devices. The system has good real-time response capability, can accurately and rapidly monitor gesture features, and has very strong practicability in scenes such as human-computer interaction and the like.

Description

Technical Field:

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of fiber optic sensing technology, and particularly to an intelligent glove system based on a flexible polymer optical waveguide. Background Art:

[0002] An intelligent glove is a wearable device integrating various sensors and intelligent technologies, usually used to capture hand movements, detect physiological signals, and achieve human-computer interaction. Currently, most intelligent gloves are based on electrical or magnetic principles, but traditional sensors have the disadvantages of large volume, susceptibility to interference, low sensitivity, and restricted finger movement. In contrast, fiber optic sensors have advantages such as anti-interference, high sensitivity, small size, light weight, and corrosion resistance, and are more suitable for applications in intelligent gloves and narrow space fields, providing better solutions for human-computer interaction and medical rehabilitation, thus attracting extensive attention from researchers at home and abroad. For example: The Chinese invention patent "An intelligent glove with FBG woven finger bending detection function" with patent application number CN201710420594.5 provides an intelligent glove with FBG woven finger bending detection function, which is made by mixing and weaving polymer FBG with an elastic woven fiber glove through a weaving technique, and fixing the polymer FBG at the finger joint part of the glove body through paste points. For example: The Chinese invention patent "An optical fiber bending sensor and an intelligent glove including the same" with patent application number CN201910016472.9 provides an optical fiber bending sensor and an intelligent glove including the same, which optimizes the design of a single-core optical fiber and the U-shaped structure layout to achieve bending detection and direction recognition. For example: The Chinese invention patent "A wearable motion capture glove based on flexible optical fiber" with patent application number CN202310681188.X provides a wearable motion capture glove based on flexible optical fiber, which is composed of a glove body, a motion acquisition sensing device based on a flexible polymer shaped optical fiber, and a glove encapsulation tool to achieve motion capture. However, in the manufacturing process of the above-mentioned fiber optic sensors, the structure is complex, increasing the manufacturing difficulty and cost of the intelligent glove.

[0003] To solve these problems, researchers have conducted many studies on flexible fiber optic sensors with simple structures and low costs. For example, the Chinese invention patent "Preparation Method and Application of a Flat-Structure Flexible Fiber Optic Sensor" with the patent application number CN202310744639.X provides a preparation method and application of a flat-structure flexible fiber optic sensor that is sensitive to tensile strain, which is a flat-structure flexible fiber optic sensor prepared from a PDMS polymer. For example, the Chinese invention patent "Preparation Method of a Highly Stretchable Flexible Polymer Fiber Optic Device" with the patent application number CN202210850027.4 provides a preparation method of a highly stretchable flexible polymer fiber optic device, which is a PDMS-PMMA fiber optic device composed of two sections of polymethyl methacrylate fiber optic inserted into a silica gel tube filled with PDMS polymer respectively. For example, the Chinese invention patent "A Flexible Sensor, Preparation Method, Equipment and Parameter Detection Method, Equipment" with the patent application number CN202211414063.2 provides a preparation method of a flexible sensor, which prepares a polymer fiber optic from a polytetrafluoroethylene tube, and then connects auxiliary fiber optics at both ends and combines with a protective sleeve.

[0004] However, although the above polymer fiber optic sensors have the advantages of good flexibility and simple structure, it is still a challenge to achieve high-sensitivity detection when measuring multi-joint complex motion chains such as hands, wrists, and elbows, and it is difficult to stably arrange them at the corresponding monitoring sites. Especially in applications such as smart gloves, the sensor not only needs to have excellent performance but also needs to consider biocompatibility to ensure a high degree of fit with the human body shape, so as to reduce the foreign body sensation and improve the wearing comfort, thereby avoiding causing discomfort to the user. Summary of the Invention:

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned technical problems, the embodiment of the present invention provides an intelligent glove system based on a flexible polymer optical waveguide, which not only ensures that the polymer optical waveguide sensor can be simply and well fixed to the intelligent glove, but also ensures that the polymer optical waveguide sensor fits with the finger joints, improving the monitoring accuracy of finger movements. Based on the monitoring mechanism of light intensity change, it can realize the detection of joint movements, with high precision and sensitivity, and has a simple structure and low cost. At the same time, the intelligent glove shows application prospects in the field of human-computer interaction and other fields.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is mainly realized by using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) fiber optic and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) materials. By combining the two materials, the tensile performance and sensitivity of fiber optic sensing are increased. This solution not only solves the problems of low Young's modulus and insufficient sensitivity of traditional polymer fiber optics, but also makes it have better flexibility and conformability, thus better meeting the needs of the human body shape, and significantly improving the wearing comfort and measurement accuracy.

[0007] The three PMMA optical fibers have a diameter of 2.2 mm, the core diameter of the optical fiber is 1 mm, and the length is optional.

[0008] This method is for the preparation of flexible polymer optical waveguide and fiber integrated devices, and corresponding technical solutions are proposed, including the following steps:

[0009] Insert the three pre-treated PMMA optical fibers into polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tubes respectively and connect them to two sections of PTFE tubes. The inner diameter of the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube is 2.2 mm and the outer diameter is 2.6 mm. Then, use a mold with a width of 10 mm to apply pressure at the middle position of the PTFE tube to flatten the PTFE tube to a certain thickness, and then heat and cure it. Finally, peel off the surface PTFE tube and fix it with 3D printed fittings to obtain a flexible flat polymer optical waveguide fiber device with the function of optical fiber waveguide integration.

[0010] The pre-treatment includes removing the cladding at one end of two PMMA optical fibers with a length of 5 mm, and the cladding at both ends of one PMMA optical fiber with a length of 5 mm each. Then, polish the cut surface of the exposed fiber core, and the surface finish of the optical fiber after cut surface polishing should reach Ra≤0.8.

[0011] Furthermore, take two sections of PTFE tubes with a length of 30 mm. In actual production, longer lengths can be used to wrap the PMMA optical fibers on both sides.

[0012] Furthermore, the PDMS is prepared by mixing Dow Corning SYLGARD184 silicone rubber monomer and curing agent in a mass ratio of 10:1.

[0013] Furthermore, place the PTFE tube in a cup filled with PDMS, and use a syringe to suck the PDMS into the PTFE tube. The amount of PDMS sucked into the PTFE tube should be filled with PDMS precursor before inserting the PMMA optical fiber.

[0014] Furthermore, insert one PMMA optical fiber pre-treated at both ends into the tube from one end of each of the two PTFE tubes filled with PDMS precursor. Subsequently, insert the two PMMA optical fibers pre-treated only at one end into the PTFE tubes from the other ends respectively. During the insertion process, it is necessary to ensure that the distance between the claddings of the two PMMA optical fibers is limited to 25 mm, and ensure that the PTFE tube can completely wrap the PMMA optical fibers on both sides, so as to achieve stable assembly of the structure.

[0015] Further, two rectangular metal molds with a width of 10 mm are used to apply pressure to the middle part of the PTFE tube respectively, and the PTFE tube is flattened to a thickness of 1.4 mm so that the thickness of the polymer PDMS in the tube is 1 mm. At this time, the distance between two PMMA optical fiber claddings should still be limited to 25 mm.

[0016] Further, the use of a constant temperature heating table, together with the metal mold being fixed, is used for heating and curing. The heating temperature is 80 °C, and for sufficient curing, the time is 4 h.

[0017] Further, a flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber device with a double cascade is obtained. On this basis, the surface layer of the PTFE tube is completely peeled off.

[0018] Further, the PMMA optical fiber between the double-cascaded flexible polymer optical waveguides is bent, and 3D-printed fittings are used to fix the bending radius of the black PMMA that binds and bends it. The bending radius is 5 mm.

[0019] The flexible polymer optical waveguide is made of a soft, light and material with good mechanical properties, which can better fit the surface of the object to be measured, reduce signal loss caused by poor contact, and thus improve the sensitivity and resolution of the sensor.

[0020] Finally, a flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor is obtained.

[0021] The intelligent glove system provided by the embodiment of the present invention based on the above flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor includes a glove body, a single-chip microcomputer development board, an LED, a lithium battery, a micro camera, a 3D printing connector, and the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor as described above.

[0022] Among them, the glove body is a complete ordinary commercial labor protection glove; the single-chip microcomputer development board serves as a control unit for processing optical signal images, converting the sensor optical signals into image gray values for processing to obtain the signals of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor, and communicating with other devices; the LED serves as a light source; the lithium battery serves as a power source to supply power to the system; the micro camera serves as a sensor optical signal acquisition detector to transmit the captured optical signal images to the control unit; the 3D printing connector is used to connect the fiber sensor and the micro camera, and is made of black resin material to prevent interference from external light; the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor is arranged at the position corresponding to the finger joint between the palm back and the fingers of the glove body.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0024] The fiber optic device prepared by the present invention combines a sensor with a waveguide structure based on sensor-waveguide integration, providing a compact and efficient solution, making the sensor data acquisition and transmission more flexible and reliable.

[0025] The flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor prepared by the present invention fits better to the limbs and joints, enhancing the stability of the sensor. To a certain extent, it avoids the detachment phenomenon caused by different limb movements, reduces noise variations, and improves the specificity of the sensor.

[0026] After adding a highly stretchable polymer to the fiber optic device prepared by the present invention, compared with ordinary polymer optical fibers, the device of the present invention can achieve a greater tensile strain and a higher optical signal sensitivity characteristic, solving the problems of low sensitivity and limited stretchable range in sensing applications.

[0027] The intelligent glove prepared by the present invention is based on the all-optical path sensing technology. By integrating highly sensitive optical sensors, it can capture subtle hand movements in real time and can be efficiently applied to the field of human-computer interaction, such as virtual reality, remote control, and assisted medical treatment and other scenarios. Its operation is simple and convenient, and the measurement results are accurate and reliable, having significant practical value and broad application potential. Description of the Drawings:

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the present invention will be further described below with reference to the drawings and embodiments:

[0029] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 Among them: 1, 2, and 3 are PMMA optical fibers with a black cortex, 4 and 5 are polymer optical waveguides, and 6 and 7 are 3D printed accessories.

[0030] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of a single polymer optical waveguide in the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 Among them: 8 and 9 are PMMA optical fibers with a black cortex, 10 and 11 are the exposed ends of the PMMA optical fibers after pretreatment, and 12 is the polymer optical waveguide.

[0031] Figure 3 It is a comparison diagram of the strain amplitude - light intensity relationship measured under longitudinal tension between the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber proposed in the embodiment of the present invention and the ordinary PDMS-PMMA waveguide fiber.

[0032] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor in the embodiment installed at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger. Figure 2In the figure: 13 and 14 are 3D printed accessories, fixed with pressure-sensitive tape; 15 is a polymer optical waveguide, placed at the finger and palm joints.

[0033] Figure 5 It is a diagram showing the output of the action monitoring data of the polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor installed on the joint in the embodiment.

[0034] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the intelligent glove and the layout of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor in the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 In the figure: 16 and 17 are 3D printed accessories, fixed to the glove by knitting; 18 is a polymer optical waveguide; 19 is an ordinary commercial labor protection glove.

[0035] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the intelligent glove system in the embodiment. Figure 7 In the figure: 20 is a 3D printed connector, with an LED light source built-in and connected to the fiber sensor; 21 is a 3D printed connector, connecting the micro camera to the fiber sensor; 22 is a single-chip microcomputer development board; 23 is a micro camera; 24 is a lithium battery.

[0036] Figure 8 It is an image of the optical signal collected by the intelligent glove system of the polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor in the embodiment. Among them, 25 is the optical signal image when making a certain action, and the right side is the corresponding binarization result; 25 is the optical signal image when making another action, and the right side is the corresponding binarization result. Specific implementation method:

[0037] Now, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. This detailed description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention, but rather as a more detailed description of certain aspects, characteristics, and implementation schemes of the present invention.

[0038] It should be understood that the terms used in the present invention are only for describing specific embodiments and are not used to limit the present invention. In addition, for the numerical ranges in the present invention, it should be understood that each intermediate value between the upper and lower limits of the range is also specifically disclosed. Each intermediate value within any stated value or stated range, as well as each smaller range between any other stated value or intermediate value within the stated range, is also included in the present invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges can be independently included or excluded from the range.

[0039] Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. Although this invention only describes preferred methods and materials, any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of this invention. All documents mentioned in this specification are incorporated by reference to disclose and describe the methods and / or materials related to those documents. In case of conflict with any incorporated document, the content of this specification shall prevail.

[0040] Without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention, various improvements and changes can be made to the specific embodiments of the specification of this invention, which are obvious to those skilled in the art. Other embodiments obtained from the specification of this invention are obvious to those skilled in the art. The specification and examples of this application are merely exemplary.

[0041] Regarding the terms "comprising", "including", "having", "containing", etc. used herein, they are all open-ended terms, meaning including but not limited to.

[0042] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 , which is a schematic structural diagram of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor provided in the embodiment of this invention. The adopted preparation technical solution includes the following steps:

[0043] Insert three pre-treated PMMA optical fibers (here, the core part of the PMMA optical fiber without the black cortex is inserted) into the PTFE tube respectively, connect them with two sections of PTFE tubes, flatten the middle part of the PTFE tube with a mold, and then heat and cure it to obtain a flexible polymer optical fiber device with a double cascade. On this basis, strip all the cortex on the surface of the PTFE tube, and use 3D-printed accessories to fix the black PMMA optical fiber, and finally obtain an integrated device of a flexible double-cascade flat polymer optical waveguide and optical fiber;

[0044] The specific pre-treatment is as follows: Use an optical fiber stripping pliers to remove the cortex at one end of two PMMA optical fibers and the cortex at both ends of one PMMA optical fiber, and polish the cut surface of the exposed optical fiber core, with the surface roughness ≤ Ra0.8, to prevent air from entering due to the roughness of the cut surface, thereby ultimately affecting the effect of the generated waveguide structure. The length of the exposed optical fiber core part of the three sections of PMMA optical fibers is 5 mm.

[0045] The PTFE tube used in this invention has a length of 30 mm, an inner diameter of 2.2 mm, and an outer diameter of 2.6 mm.

[0046] The PTFE tube contains a PDMS precursor, and the injection amount is based on filling the inner space of the tube.

[0047] Among the three pre-treated PMMA optical fibers, one PMMA optical fiber pre-treated at both ends is inserted into the tubes from one end of two PTFE tubes filled with PDMS precursor at both ends respectively. Subsequently, two PMMA optical fibers pre-treated at only one end are inserted from the other ends of the PTFE tubes respectively. During the insertion process, it is necessary to ensure that the distance between the claddings of the PMMA optical fibers is limited to 25 mm, and ensure that the PTFE tube can completely wrap the PMMA optical fibers on both sides, so as to realize the stable assembly of the structure.

[0048] In the present invention, a rectangular metal mold with a width of 10 mm is used to apply pressure to the middle part of the PTFE tube, and the PTFE tube is flattened to a thickness of 1.4 mm so that the polymer thickness in the tube is 1 mm. At this time, the distance between the cortices of the PMMA optical fibers should still be limited.

[0049] The heating and curing temperature is 80 °C and the time is 4 h. A numerically controlled heating square plate magnetic stirrer MS7-H550-Pro is used to heat the PTFE tube inserted into the core of the PMMA optical fiber, and heat and cure it together with the fixed metal mold. The sample is placed horizontally on the tray of the numerically controlled heating square plate magnetic stirrer.

[0050] The PDMS precursor is prepared by mixing the silicone rubber monomer of Dow Corning SYLGARD 184 and the curing agent in a mass ratio of 10:1.

[0051] The 3D printed fitting is used to fix the bending radius of the black PMMA that is bound and bent, and the bending radius is 5 mm. As Figure 1 shown.

[0052] The surface layer of the PTFE tube needs to be completely peeled off, and then the polymer optical waveguide formed after flattening and curing is obtained, as Figure 2 shown.

[0053] The polymer optical waveguide fiber sensing principle proposed by the present invention is based on the fact that when the optical fiber is subjected to strain changes or refractive index changes, its transmission loss will change accordingly. That is, when the optical fiber undergoes physical deformation or the refractive index of the surrounding medium changes, the optical transmission characteristics in the optical fiber will also change accordingly. By detecting these changes, the changes of external physical quantities can be accurately measured. This mechanism enables optical fiber sensors to achieve high-sensitivity and high-precision monitoring in a variety of applications. The sensing loss of transmitted light absorption can be explained by the Lambert-Beer law, that is:

[0054]

[0055] where A is the absorbance, I o is the intensity of the outgoing light, I i$I_0$ is the incident light intensity, $K$ is the molar absorption coefficient, $l$ is the thickness of the light-absorbing substance, which is the fiber length in the polymer optical waveguide fiber proposed in the present invention, and $c$ is the concentration of the light-absorbing substance. When subjected to an axially applied force, the polymer optical fiber will undergo axial deformation, so that the fiber length changes to:

[0056] $l = l_0(1 + \epsilon)$

[0057] where $l$ is the fiber length, $l_0$ is the original fiber length, and $\epsilon$ is the strain.

[0058] Therefore, the relationship between the loss of light during transmission and the strain can be expressed as:

[0059]

[0060] The two main factors that have a major impact on the transmitted light during the transmission of light in the optical fiber are scattering and refractive index respectively.

[0061] Scattering includes Raman scattering, Rayleigh scattering and Brillouin scattering. Since Rayleigh scattering is not affected by temperature and the wavelength of the light source selected in the experiment is relatively long, the influence of Rayleigh scattering on the optical fiber loss is very weak. The transmission loss of the polymer optical fiber mainly comes from spontaneous Brillouin scattering, and Brillouin scattering changes with temperature.

[0062] For the polymer optical waveguide fiber proposed in the present invention, the relative refractive index difference between the two ends of the optical fiber when different materials of optical fibers are connected will also affect the optical fiber transmission loss. The refractive index $n$ of the optical fiber is not only a function of the wavelength $\lambda$, but also affected by the temperature $T$ and the strain $\epsilon$. The refractive index of the optical fiber can be described by the state function $n(\lambda, T, \epsilon)$. Since the change in refractive index is usually very small, it can be approximately expanded as:

[0063]

[0064] Therefore, during the use of the optical fiber, it is usually easy to be affected by factors such as axial and radial strain and relative refractive index difference, resulting in changes in the optical fiber transmission loss. Especially when applied to the human body, due to various movements, large bending deformations are likely to occur, mainly when the joints are bent. The deformation of the polymer optical waveguide fiber proposed in the present invention also increases correspondingly due to the high-elastic PDMS material, so that the transmission mode of the detected signal light in the PDMS material changes from the guided mode to the radiation mode.

[0065] According to these relationships, the flexible polymer optical waveguide and fiber integrated device prepared by the present invention can be used to monitor human vital signs, specifically joint bending. The polymer optical waveguide fiber device is attached to the joint position. Since joint bending will cause the attached optical fiber device to bend, the sensor device will be stretched and bent with the change of human vital signs, resulting in the loss of the intensity of the optical signal with a constant amplitude entering the optical fiber and being converted into a variable optical signal modulated by intensity, realizing the monitoring of joint bending.

[0066] The flexible polymer optical waveguide and fiber integrated device prepared by the present invention can also be used for optical signal communication transmission, sensors, etc., and has the characteristics of high stretchability and high sensitivity, with simple operation, accurate results and high practical value.

[0067] Please refer to Figure 3 , for the comparison between the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber in the embodiment of the present invention and the ordinary PDMS-PMMA waveguide fiber prepared by the same method except for not using the die effect (i.e., not applying pressure deformation), according to the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber preparation method proposed in the embodiment of the present invention and the strain amplitude-light intensity relationship measured for the ordinary PDMS-PMMA optical fiber (i.e., not applying pressure deformation) under longitudinal tension, a comparison curve of the two is drawn, as Figure 3 shown.

[0068] The ordinary PDMS-PMMA waveguide fiber not modified by this preparation method can reflect the sensitivity enhancement effect of the present invention when compared with the polymer waveguide fiber proposed in this embodiment.

[0069] From Figure 3 it can be seen that the optical intensity of the polymer optical waveguide fiber prepared in this application changes rapidly with the increase of the strain amplitude, having excellent tensile sensitivity. From the comparison between the ordinary PDMS-PMMA waveguide fiber and the polymer optical waveguide fiber proposed in the present invention, it can be seen that for the same tensile amplitude, the proposed optical fiber in the present invention causes a greater change in the transmitted light, and the sensitivity of the optical fiber is stronger. Therefore, the present invention has the characteristic of high sensitivity, and is simple to operate, accurate in results and high in practical value in the detection of human joint movement.

[0070] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the installation of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor at the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger to realize the motion monitoring of the embodiment of the present invention on the joint.

[0071] Figure 5This is the action monitoring data output diagram of the embodiment of the present invention on the joint. When the finger joints make bending actions of 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° respectively, very obvious data changes are presented, fully demonstrating the high sensitivity of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor and also reflecting its high practical value.

[0072] On this basis, the embodiment of the present invention provides an intelligent glove, as Figure 6 shown. The intelligent glove includes a glove body and the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor as described above. The intelligent glove can be used in fields such as intelligent control and human-computer interaction. Among them, there are a total of 5 flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors, which are placed at the positions corresponding to the metacarpophalangeal joints of the back of the glove and five fingers, and the 3D-printed accessories on the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors are fixed to the glove body by knitting.

[0073] Please refer to Figure 7 , Figure 7 is the schematic diagram of the intelligent glove system. The intelligent glove includes, in addition to the glove body and the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor described above, a single-chip microcomputer development board, an LED lamp, a lithium battery, a micro camera, and a 3D-printed connector. Among them, the single-chip microcomputer development board serves as the control unit, which is used to process the optical signal image, convert the sensor optical signal into an image gray value for processing to obtain the signal of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor, and communicate with other devices; the LED serves as the light source; the lithium battery serves as the power source to supply power to the system; the micro camera serves as the sensor optical signal acquisition detector, which transmits the captured optical signal image to the control unit; the 3D-printed connector is used to connect the fiber sensor with the light source and the fiber sensor with the micro camera, and is made of black resin material to prevent external light interference.

[0074] Please refer to Figure 8 , Figure 8 is the optical signal image of the polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor collected by the intelligent glove system of the embodiment. The 5 bright spots in the image correspond to the signals of the 5 flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors on the intelligent glove. When an action such as 25 is made, the optical signal image is collected, and then the image is binarized to obtain the corresponding gray scale image. If another action is made, the signal characteristics of the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor change with the action. At this time, the intelligent glove system will quickly collect the change in the optical signal image, that is, obtain the optical signal image of 26, and the gray scale image after its binarization changes accordingly.

[0075] The intelligent glove can simultaneously monitor the signals of five flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors, which respectively correspond to different finger bending conditions. By precisely perceiving the degree of finger bending, the intelligent glove can recognize a variety of gestures and convert them into rich action instructions. This function enables the intelligent glove to have broad application potential in the fields of intelligent control and human-computer interaction, providing users with a more natural and intuitive operation experience.

[0076] It should be noted that the description and drawings of the present invention give preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described in this specification. These embodiments do not serve as additional limitations to the content of the present invention. The purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the understanding of the disclosed content of the present invention more thorough and comprehensive. Moreover, the above technical features continue to be combined with each other to form various embodiments not listed above, which are all regarded as within the scope described in the description of the present invention. Further, for those of ordinary skill in the art, improvements or transformations can be made according to the above description, and all such improvements and transformations should fall within the protection scope of the appended claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A smart glove system based on flexible polymer optical waveguide, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, comprises a glove body (1), a flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor (2), a single-chip microcomputer development board (3), an LED light (4), a lithium battery (5), a micro camera (6), and a 3D printed connector (7). Five flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors are placed on the back of the glove at positions corresponding to the metacarpophalangeal joints of five fingers, and the 3D printed accessories on the flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensor are fixed to the glove body by knitting, and then connected to a unit composed of optical signal generation, collection, and processing, so as to achieve sensing monitoring.

2. The smart glove system based on flexible polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that: The optical fiber sensor based on flexible polymer optical waveguide, as shown in Figure 1, consists of a flat structure PDMS polymer optical waveguide, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) optical fiber and 3D printed accessories to form a flexible flat polymer optical waveguide optical fiber device with an integrated optical fiber waveguide in a double optical waveguide cascade structure. The PMMA optical fiber segment is embedded in a grooved 3D printed accessory for fixation, and the bending radius is 5 mm.

3. The smart glove system based on flexible polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that: Based on the full optical sensing technology, the smart gloves can monitor the signals of five flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors at the same time. By integrating highly sensitive optical sensors, it can capture subtle hand movements in real time, use camera acquisition and single-chip development board as control unit for image and data processing, convert sensor optical signals into image grayscale values ​​for processing to obtain signals of flexible polymer optical waveguide fiber sensors, and communicate with other devices, so as to achieve efficient application in the field of human-computer interaction, such as virtual reality, remote control and auxiliary medical treatment. It is simple and convenient to operate, and the measurement results are accurate and reliable, with significant practical value and wide application potential.

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