Optical Fiber-Based Sensor for Assessing Electric Current in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with ROS Interface

Abstract

In this work, we propose and experimentally validate a novel optical fiber-based sensor for monitoring and assessing electric current in unmanned aerial vehicles electric motors. The proposed sensing technology combines a Long-Period Fiber Grating sensor and a permanent Neodymium magnet, providing a small and flexible sensing scheme deployed inside the arm of the drone. The experimental results show that good accuracy and linear electric current sensitivity of 0.21 A and 2.08 A/nm, respectively, were achieved with electric current measurements at a 100 Hz sampling rate. The values of hysteresis and repeatability achieved were 0.08 A and 0.22 A, respectively. Finally, a Robot Operating System package for interfacing with the sensing system was developed and tested, which greatly simplifies the deployment of the sensor in robotics applications.