Fig. 1. Fiber structure and principle. (a) Fiber cross-section structure; (b) light propagates by total internal reflection inside the fiber

Fig. 2. Polymer optical fiber array panels manufacturing process flowchart

Fig. 3. Fiber preform

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of fiber drawing

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of hot pressing mold. (a) Section view; (b) vertical view

Fig. 6. Polymer optical fiber array panel imaging and microscopic photographs of the structure. (a) Loose structure imaging; (b) localized crystallization imaging; (c) integral crystallographic imaging; (d) fully crystallized without imaging

Fig. 7. Experimental design of Box-Behnken

Fig. 8. Residual plot. (a) Normal probability plot of residuals; (b) residuals versus fitted values

Fig. 9. 3D response surface plots and their contour plots between three independent variables of hot pressing temperature, pressure, and hot pressing time. (a)(b) Response surface plot and contour plot of the interaction of hot pressing temperature and pressure on transmittance; (c)(d) response surface plot and contour plot of the interaction of hot pressing temperature and hot pressing time on transmittance; (e)(f) response surface plot and contour plot of the interaction of pressure and hot pressing time on transmittance

Fig. 10. Physical picture of the panel. (a) Polymer optical fiber array panel; (b) microscopic structural view of polymer optical fiber array panel

Fig. 11. Polymer optical fiber array panels transmission curves

Fig. 12. Transmission comparison of our prepared polymer optical fiber array panels with 3D printed and commercially available optical fiber panels (Paradigm Optics PA0370)

Fig. 13. Images captured from the image displacement test. (a) Crosshairs coincide with the reference of the optical reticle plate; (b) crosshair offset

Fig. 14. Image captured from the resolution test

Fig. 15. Image guiding capability of polymer optical fiber array panels. (a) Outdoor views captured on the camera screen; (b) comparison of image guiding capabilities of polymer optical fiber array panels with different thicknesses