One or more fiber optic sensors locally bonded with a flexible filament structure

A method comprising:

• weaving a fiber optic sensor with a curable or meltable material woven into the woven structure to produce a woven assembly that has an initial flexibility;
• after the woven assembly is produced, activating the curable or meltable material via heating or curing to locally adhere the fiber optic sensor to just one or more portions of the woven structure to create a local bond, where the local bond transfers strain from the woven structure to the fiber optic sensor to allow the fiber optic sensor to detect strain on the woven structure,
• wherein after the local bond between the fiber optic sensor and the one or more portions of the woven structure, the woven assembly retains a high degree of the initial flexibility that is greater than a flexibility of the woven structure if more or all of the woven structure were infused with curable or meltable material.

A method comprising:

• embedding a fiber optic sensor with a buffer material in or on a flexible filament structure;
• thereafter, activating the buffer material via heating or curing to locally adhere the fiber optic sensor to the flexible filament structure to create a local bond, where the local bond transfers strain from the flexible filament structure to the fiber optic sensor to allow the fiber optic sensor to detect strain on the flexible filament structure while maintaining flexibility in the flexible filament structure.

An apparatus comprising:

• a flexible filament structure, and
• a fiber optic sensor with a buffer material that locally bonds the fiber optic sensor to the flexible filament structure to create a bond between the fiber optic sensor and the flexible filament structure to transfer strain from the flexible filament structure to the fiber optic sensor to allow the fiber optic sensor to detect strain on the flexible filament structure while maintaining flexibility in the flexible filament structure,
• wherein the woven structure includes a first layer of axial filaments and lateral filaments and a second layer of axial filaments and lateral filaments, wherein the vertical filaments extend to couple the first layer and the second layer, and wherein one or more fiber optic sensors are embedded between the first layer and the second layer.