Educational Resource using Optical Fibers

In this article, a new low‐cost educational resource for a better understanding and a practical application of optical fibers is proposed. The main purpose of this resource is to send 4‐bit images in grayscale through optical fibers with a laser diode and receive it with a photoresistor, with a total estimated setup‐cost of fifteen dollars. The setup includes a visual user‐interface programmed with the software LabVIEW, which lets to select and prepare an image for a proper sending. The same program is in charge of applying different intensities for each type of bit through a generic laser diode and of receiving the information back, all done with the aid of an Arduino Uno board, which serves as the electric interface.

Update: The second part of the project involved the use of two different Arduinos that communicate with each other using the same principle, another improvement is that we were capable of receiving color images, this can be seen in the video.