  continuum-robots, prosthetic devices and wearable body-shape sensors. A
miniaturised one-degree-of-freedom joint-angle sensor is devised, using a
single light emitting/receiving optical fibre with a coupler connected to a
Keyence (FS-N11MN, Osaka, Japan) sensor that supplies and detects light through
the optical fibres. A curvature-varying reflective surface integrated in the
joint demonstrates non-contact light intensity-based sensing. Various reflector
geometries and surface colours are designed to compare sensor output for
achieving a large angle range and improved sensitivity for the proposed
miniaturised robotic shape-sensing applications.
