Fiber Bragg Grating Strain Sensors in Smart Factories: Review of Opportunities and Challenges

Physical parameter monitors are necessary for the conversion of conventional factories to smart factories. The creation of new sensors for monitoring physical parameters in difficult-to-access areas is necessary for this move. In this line, a large number of optical sensors based on integrated optical wave guides or optical fibers have been designed and manufactured over the previous ten years. As a potent tool for real-time monitoring of physical parameters like temperature, pressure, strain, and humidity. Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG)-based sensors have attracted a lot of attention. The main reasons for using FBG sensors in smart factories are immunity to electromagnetic interference and radio frequency; compact in size and offer multiple sensing to different physical parameters; permit remote sensing and are not prone to corrosion. In this paper, a review of FBG-based sensors for strain parameter monitoring and their application in the smart factories is presented. An overview of the historical background is followed by an explanation of the fundamentals of FBG sensing and a discussion of the electromagnetic theory of waveguide modes in optical fibers. Then give a review of current research in FBG strain sensor development. A review of the challenges and applications of FBG strain sensors specifically in smart manufacturing follows.