Wireless dual accelerometer wearable system for torso-head angle measurement during walking

Abstract

In the literature, there exists no study examining the effects of looking down gait on gait parameters and foot pressure. This study presents a system that is able to measure head-torso angle during walking. The hardware part of the system is composed of; two 3-axial digital accelerometers that are located in occipital and dorsal regions, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth module and a battery. The acceleration data that is acquired by the microprocessor via I2C protocol is sent to the client computer through Bluetooth module. The reception, angle estimation and visualization are realized by the graphical user interface which is the software part of the system and developed under Python language. Developed system is tested both on a 2 degree-of-freedom arm and during walk on a subject.