Design and prototyping of an automated system for the fabrication and testing of optical fiber sensors

Abstract

This thesis describes the design and programming of the movement and temperature control of an automated system used for the fabrication of optical fiber sensors. The automated system pumps and injects different programmed samples into a flow cell containing the optical fiber, which makes the sensor. The different samples are displayed on a rectangular matrix in a Cartesian coordinate robot. The temperature of the system is measured by a thermistor, adjusted with a couple of Peltier cells and controlled with a L298N motor driver. The system is controlled by an Arduino Mega and it also includes a printed Arduino Mega shield with the designed circuits for the movement and temperature control. The user is able to mov e and program the system with a Raspberry touchscreen using CNC commands. The design and coding of the system enable the use of different sensors, motors and other components; and also, the use of different samples for the optical fiber sensor.