A device comprised of at least a pair of accelerometers and a tilt sensor mounted in fixed relation to a datum plane defining surface (sole of a shoe) may be used for extracting kinematic variables including linear and rotational acceleration, velocity and position. These variables may be resolved into a selected direction thereby permitting both relative and absolute kinematic quantities to be determined. The acceleration is determined using a small cluster of two mutually perpendicular accelerometers mounted on a shoe. Angular orientation of the foot may be determined by double integration of the foot's angular acceleration (which requires a third accelerometer substantially parallel to one of the two orthogonal accelerometers). The two orthogonal accelerations are then resolved into a net horizontal acceleration or other selected direction which may be integrated to find the foot velocity in the selected direction. The average of the foot velocity corresponds to the subject's gait speed.
A device comprised of at least a pair of accelerometers and a tilt sensor mounted in fixed relation to a datum plane defining surface (sole of a shoe) may be used for extracting kinematic variables including linear and rotational acceleration, velocity and position. These variables may be resolved into a selected direction thereby permitting both relative and absolute kinematic quantities to be determined. The acceleration is determined using a small cluster of two mutually perpendicular accelerometers mounted on a shoe. Angular orientation of the foot may be determined by double integration of the foot's angular acceleration (which requires a third accelerometer substantially parallel to one of the two orthogonal accelerometers). The two orthogonal accelerations are then resolved into a net horizontal acceleration or other selected direction which may be integrated to find the foot velocity in the selected direction. The average of the foot velocity corresponds to the subject's gait speed.
A device comprised of at least a pair of accelerometers and a tilt sensor mounted in fixed relation to a datum plane defining surface (sole of a shoe) may be used for extracting kinematic variables including linear and rotational acceleration, velocity and position. These variables may be resolved into a selected direction thereby permitting both relative and absolute kinematic quantities to be determined. The acceleration is determined using a small cluster of two mutually perpendicular accelerometers mounted on a shoe. Angular orientation of the foot may be determined by double integration of the foot's angular acceleration (which requires a third accelerometer substantially parallel to one of the two orthogonal accelerometers). The two orthogonal accelerations are then resolved into a net horizontal acceleration or other selected direction which may be integrated to find the foot velocity in the selected direction. The average of the foot velocity corresponds to the subject's gait speed.