For years, Micron Optics has touted the benefits of fiber optic sensors – specifically fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based strain and temperature sensors. We have worked to make clear that we do not see FBG sensors as an across-the-board replacement for conventional foil strain gages or thermocouples. They’re not. FBG sensors make sense where there is a special challenge that is addressed by one of many inherent advantages of fiber optic sensors.

National Instruments has done a good job of highlighting some examples of this in a recent “NI Developer Zone” blog post. It focuses on FBG’s immunity to EMI, intrinsically safe operation, multiplexing capability and small size and how these attributes address needs in important fields of application. See the complete post here:

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/pub/p/id/1523metc=mt4psm

National Instruments recognizes how fiber optic sensors enhance their capability to address a much broader field of sensor applications. Kellis Garret, Product Marketing Engineer for NI’s fiber optic sensing instruments, says “Many of our customers are just learning about the power of FOS and are now making measurements that simply were not possible with conventional gages.” Look for more FOS information at ni.com, including NI-OSI (NI’s FOS interface), LabVIEW drivers for Micron Optics interrogators, and training tools to bring yourself and your team current on FOS technologies.

- Tom Graver