Applications of MEMS Gyroscope for Human Gait Analysis

After decades of development, quantitative instruments for human gait analysis have become an important tool for revealing underlying pathologies manifested by gait abnormalities. However, the gold standard instruments (e.g., optical motion capture systems) are commonly expensive and complex while needing expert operation and maintenance and thereby be limited to a small number of specialized gait laboratories. Therefore, in current clinical settings, gait analysis still mainly relies on visual observation and assessment. Due to recent developments in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology, the cost and size of gyroscopes are decreasing, while the accuracy is being improved, which provides an effective way for qualifying gait features. This chapter aims to give a close examination of human gait patterns (normal and abnormal) using gyroscope-based wearable technology. Both healthy subjects and hemiparesis patients participated in the experiment, and experimental results show that foot-mounted gyroscopes could assess gait abnormalities in both temporal and spatial domains. Gait analysis systems constructed of wearable gyroscopes can be more easily used in both clinical and home environments than their gold standard counterparts, which have few requirements for operation, maintenance, and working environment, thereby suggesting a promising future for gait analysis

A method for understanding and digitizing manipulation activities using programming by demonstration in robotic applications

Robots are flexible machines, where the flexibility is achieved, mainly, by the re-programming of the robotic system. To fully exploit the potential of robotic systems, an easy, fast, and intuitive programming methodology is desired. By applying such methodology, robots will be open to a wider audience of potential users (i.e. SMEs, etc.) since the need for a robotic expert in charge of programming the robot will not be needed anymore. This paper presents a Programming by Demonstration approach dealing with high-level tasks taking advantage of the ROS standard. The system identifies the different processes associated to a single-arm human manipulation activity and generates an action plan for future interpretation by the robot. The system is composed of five modules, all of them containerized and interconnected by ROS. Three of these modules are in charge of processing the manipulation data gathered by the sensors system, and converting it from the lowest level to the highest manipulation processes. In order to do this transformation, a module is used to train the system. This module generates, for each operation, an Optimized Multiorder Multivariate Markov Model, that later will be used for the operations recognition and process segmentation. Finally, the fifth module is used to interface and calibrate the system. The system was implemented and tested using a dataglove and a hand position tracker to capture the operator’s data during the manipulation. Four users and five different object types were used to train and test the system both for operations recognition and process segmentation and classification, including also the detection of the locations where the operations are performed.Peer reviewe

Estimation of Spatial-Temporal Gait Parameters Using a Low-Cost Ultrasonic Motion Analysis System

In this paper, a low-cost motion analysis system using a wireless ultrasonic sensor network is proposed and investigated. A methodology has been developed to extract spatial-temporal gait parameters including stride length, stride duration, stride velocity, stride cadence, and stride symmetry from 3D foot displacements estimated by the combination of spherical positioning technique and unscented Kalman filter. The performance of this system is validated against a camera-based system in the laboratory with 10 healthy volunteers. Numerical results show the feasibility of the proposed system with average error of 2.7% for all the estimated gait parameters. The influence of walking speed on the measurement accuracy of proposed system is also evaluated. Statistical analysis demonstrates its capability of being used as a gait assessment tool for some medical applications.Published versio

Estimation of Spatial-Temporal Gait Parameters Using a Low-Cost Ultrasonic Motion Analysis System

In this paper, a low-cost motion analysis system using a wireless ultrasonic sensor network is proposed and investigated. A methodology has been developed to extract spatial-temporal gait parameters including stride length, stride duration, stride velocity, stride cadence, and stride symmetry from 3D foot displacements estimated by the combination of spherical positioning technique and unscented Kalman filter. The performance of this system is validated against a camera-based system in the laboratory with 10 healthy volunteers. Numerical results show the feasibility of the proposed system with average error of 2.7% for all the estimated gait parameters. The influence of walking speed on the measurement accuracy of proposed system is also evaluated. Statistical analysis demonstrates its capability of being used as a gait assessment tool for some medical applications

Application of the crtical power evaluation and their respective adaptations of critical force and critical lift in resistance exercise, under different cadences

Orientador: Claudio Alexandre GobattoDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências AplicadasResumo: Treinamento resistido (TR) é comumente praticado pela sociedade, entretanto é notada uma carência de avaliações e métodos de monitoramento de movimentos mais específicos. Pensando nisso, temos a avaliação de potência crítica que mensura os parâmetros aeróbio de potência crítica (PC), e anaeróbio de capacidade de trabalho anaeróbio (CTA), que poderia vir a ser investigada, adaptada e aplicada ao TR, por meio de um sistema robusto, para mensuração de variáveis físicas. E para se investigar um melhor sistema para a aplicação e mensuração das variáveis físicas, foi criado para a presente pesquisa um sistema de célula de carga com um elástico atado, e um sistema de sensores embarcados em placas microcontroladoras, em que ambos os sistemas demonstraram apenas uma moderada concordância da mensuração variável de distância, e que para a mensuração de força segundo o sistema sensores embarcados em placas micro controladoras que utilizou uma análise cinética, apresentou mais confiável para a mensuração de força e potência, por mensurar a variável de aceleração de maneira mais direta. Nesse sentido, o objetivo do presente estudo foi de aplicar o modelo de potência crítica e suas respectivas adaptações de força crítica e levantamento crítico no TR, por meio da análise de movimentos, efetuadas por sensores embarcados em placas micro controladoras. Sendo assim, na presente pesquisa 10 indivíduos treinados efetuaram 9 esforços exaustivos, sob as cadências de 2, 4 e 8 segundos, com pesos de massas referentes a 19,36, 28,78 e 38,76 kg. E para aplicação da avaliação de potência crítica foram realizadas regressões por meio dos seguintes modelos matemáticos, referentes ao hiperbólico (Y = CTA/ X ¿ PC), linear (Y = CTA + PC*X) e linear 1/X (Y = PC + CTA*1/X), que foram adaptados para força crítica, levantamento crítico e levantamento crítico em que se utilizou o número de repetições ao invés do tempo dos esforços, que mensuraram respetivamente os parâmetros aeróbio de força crítica (FC) e levantamento crítico (LC), e os parâmetros aeróbios de capacidade de impulso anaeróbio (CIA) e capacidade de levantamento anaeróbio (CLA). Foi notado que para todas as regressões, se obteve um R² ? 0,85, e que houve uma alta correlação intraclasse entre as intensidades convertidas em Kg de PC e FC para com LC obtidas em esforços de 4 segundos pelo modelo linear 1/XAbstract: The resistance training (RT) is commonly practiced by society, however, there is reported a shortage of assessments and methods of monitoring more specific movements. Considering this, the critical power evaluation measures the aerobic parameters of critical power (CP), and anaerobic work capacity (AWC), which could be investigated, adapted and applied to the TR, through a robust system, for the measurement of physical variables in resistance exercise. In order to investigate a better system for the application and measurement of physical variables in resistance exercise, a load cell system with a bound elastic and a system of sensors embedded in microcontroller boards was created for the present research, in wich for the distance measurement, both systems demonstrated moderate agreement. Thus, the present study, 10 subjects performed 9 exhaustive exercises, under the cadences of 2, 4 and 8 seconds, and with mass weights referring to 19.36, 28.78 and 38.76 kg. In this sense, the present study three mathematical models, hyperbolic (Y = CTA + X - PC), linear (Y = CTA + PC * X) and linear 1 / X (Y = PC) + CTA * 1 / X), were applied and adapted for critical power, critical strength, critical lift and critical lift, in which the number of repetitions was used instead of the time of the efforts, which respectively measured the critical force aerobic (CF) and critical lift (CL) and aerobic parameters of anaerobic impulse capacity (AIC) and anaerobic lifting capacity (ALC). It was noted that for all regressions, a R² ? 0.85 was obtained, and that there was a high intraclass correlation between the intensities converted in Kg of CP and CF to CL obtained in 4 sec. Efforts by linear model 1 / XMestradoBiodinâmica do Movimento Humano e EsporteMestre em Ciências da Nutrição e do Esporte e Metabolismo01P-3717/2017CAPE