Real time event-based segmentation to classify locomotion activities through a single inertial sensor

We propose an event-based dynamic segmentation technique for the classification of locomotion activities, able to detect the mid-swing, initial contact and end contact events. This technique is based on the use of a shank-mounted inertial sensor incorporating a tri-axial accelerometer and a tri-axial gyroscope, and it is tested on four different locomotion activities: walking, stair ascent, stair descent and running. Gyroscope data along one component are used to dynamically determine the window size for segmentation, and a number of features are then extracted from these segments. The event-based segmentation technique has been compared against three different fixed window size segmentations, in terms of classification accuracy on two different datasets, and with two different feature sets. The dynamic event-based segmentation showed an improvement in terms of accuracy of around 5% (97% vs. 92% and 92% vs. 87%) and 1-2% (89% vs. 87% and 97% vs. 96%) for the two dataset, respectively, thus confirming the need to incorporate an event-based criterion to increase performance in the classification of motion activities

Automatic Assessment of the Type and Intensity of Agitated Hand Movements

With increasing numbers of people living with dementia, there is growing interest in the automatic monitoring of agitation. Current assessments rely on carer observations within a framework of behavioural scales. Automatic monitoring of agitation can supplement existing assessments, providing carers and clinicians with a greater understanding of the causes and extent of agitation. Despite agitation frequently manifesting in repetitive hand movements, the automatic assessment of repetitive hand movements remains a sparsely researched field. Monitoring hand movements is problematic due to the subtle differences between different types of hand movements and variations in how they can be carried out; the lack of training data creates additional challenges. This paper proposes a novel approach to assess the type and intensity of repetitive hand movements using skeletal model data derived from video. We introduce a video-based dataset of five repetitive hand movements symptomatic of agitation. Using skeletal keypoint locations extracted from video, we demonstrate a system to recognise repetitive hand movements using discriminative poses. By first learning characteristics of the movement, our system can accurately identify changes in the intensity of repetitive movements. Wide inter-subject variation in agitated behaviours suggests the benefit of personalising the recognition model with some end-user information. Our results suggest that data captured using a single conventional RGB video camera can be used to automatically monitor agitated hand movements of sedentary patients

Using an empirical model of human turning motion to aid heading estimation in a personal navigation system

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. December 2013. Major: Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics. Advisor: Demoz Gebre-Egziabher. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 65 pages.With the adoption of Global Navigation Satellite Systems in smart phones, soldier equipment, and emergency responder navigation systems users have realized the usefulness of low cost Personal Navigation Systems. The state-of-the-art Personal Navigation System is a unit that fuses information based on external references with a low cost IMU. Due to the size, weight, power, and cost constraints imposed on a pedestrian navigation systems as well as current IMU performance limitations, the gyroscopes used to determine heading exhibit significant drift limiting the performance of the navigation system. In this thesis biomechanical signals are used to predict the onset of pedestrian turning motion. Experimental data from eight subjects captured in a gait laboratory using a Vicon motion tracking unit is used for validation. The analysis of experimental data shows the heading computed by turn prediction augmented integration is more accurate than open loop gyro integration alone

Analysis of derived features for the motion classification of a passive lower limb exoskeleton

Analysis of Derived Features for the Motion Classification of a PassiveLowerLimbExoskeleton The recognition of human motion intentions is a fundamental requirement to control efficiently an exoskeleton system. The exoskeleton control can be enhanced or subsequent motions can be predicted, if the current intended motion is known. At H2T research has been carried out with a classification system based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to classify the multi-modal sensor data acquired from a unilateral passive lower-limb exoskeleton. The training data is formed of force vectors, linear accelerations and Euler angles provided by 7 3D-force sensors and 3 IMUs. The recordings consist of data of 10 subjects performing 14 different types of daily activities, each one carried out 10 times. This master thesis attempts to improve the motion classification by using physical meaningful derived features from the raw data aforementioned. The knee vector moment and the knee and ankle joint angles, which respectively give a kinematic and dynamic description of a motion, were the derived features considered. Firstly, these new features are analysed to study their patterns and the resemblance of the data among different subjects is quantified in order to check their consistency. Afterwards, the derived features are evaluated in the motion classification system to check their performance. Various configurations of the classifier were tested including different preprocessors of the data employed and the structure of the HMMs used to represent each motion. Some setups combining derived features and raw data led to good results (e.g. norm of the moment vector and IMUs got 89.39% of accuracy), but did not improve the best results of previous works (e.g. 2 IMUs and 1 Force Sensor got 90.73% of accuracy). Although the classification results are not improved, it is proved that these derived features are a good representation of their primary features and a suitable option if a dimensional reduction of the data is pursued. At the end, possible directions of improvement are suggested to improve the motion classification concerning the results obtained along the thesis.Outgoin

Continuous Hidden Markov Model for Pedestrian Activity Classification and Gait Analysis

This paper presents a method for pedestrian activity classification and gait analysis based on the microelectromechanical-systems inertial measurement unit (IMU). The work targets two groups of applications, including the following: 1) human activity classification and 2) joint human activity and gait-phase classification. In the latter case, the gait phase is defined as a substate of a specific gait cycle, i.e., the states of the body between the stance and swing phases. We model the pedestrian motion with a continuous hidden Markov model (HMM) in which the output density functions are assumed to be Gaussian mixture models. For the joint activity and gait-phase classification, motivated by the cyclical nature of the IMU measurements, each individual activity is modeled by a "circular HMM." For both the proposed classification methods, proper feature vectors are extracted from the IMU measurements. In this paper, we report the results of conducted experiments where the IMU was mounted on the humans' chests. This permits the potential application of the current study in camera-aided inertial navigation for positioning and personal assistance for future research works. Five classes of activity, including walking, running, going upstairs, going downstairs, and standing, are considered in the experiments. The performance of the proposed methods is illustrated in various ways, and as an objective measure, the confusion matrix is computed and reported. The achieved relative figure of merits using the collected data validates the reliability of the proposed methods for the desired applications.QC 20130114</p