Microcontroller-based performance enhancement of an optical fiber level transducer

The paper proposes a digital microcontrolled transducer for liquid level measurement based on two optical fibers on which the cladding was removed in suitable zones at a known distance one from each other. A 1 m full scale, 6.25 mm resolution prototype was realized and tested. The adopted hardware and software strategies assure a low cost, high static and dynamic performance, good reliability, and the possibility of remote control. These features were confirmed by the experimental tests carried out on fuel liquids.