Assessment of Walker-assisted Human Interaction from LRF and Wearable Wireless Inertial Sensors

Maria Martins, Carlos Cifuentes, Arlindo Elias, Valmir Schneider, Anselmo Frizera, Cristina Santos

2013

Abstract

This paper describes the assessment of basic walker-assisted human interaction based on a laser range finder (LRF) sensor and two inertial wearable sensors. Thirteen osteoarthritis patients and thirteen healthy subjects were selected to be part of this pilot experiment, which intends to acquire and calculate spatiotemporal and human-interaction parameters from walker-assisted ambulation. A comparison is made between the spatiotemporal parameters of healthy subjects and the ones of patients with osteoarthritis. Moreover, it is made an analysis of the effect that change of direction in walker-assisted ambulation can have on spatiotemporal parameters. Results have shown that 1) velocity, step length and distance to the walker are significantly affected by the change of direction, and 2) distance to the walker and step length can distinguish between healthy subjects and patients with osteoarthritis. In terms of human-interaction parameters, results show that a LRF sensor can correctly describe the trajectory and velocity of the user in relation to the walker. However, just the wearable sensors can characterize changes in direction. These results will be further used in the development of a robotic control that intends to detect the user's intention through LRF and inertial sensors, and respond accordingly.

References

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Martins M., Cifuentes C., Elias A., Schneider V., Frizera A. and Santos C. (2013). Assessment of Walker-assisted Human Interaction from LRF and Wearable Wireless Inertial Sensors . In Proceedings of the International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics - Volume 1: SensoryFusion, (NEUROTECHNIX 2013) ISBN 978-989-8565-80-8, pages 143-151. DOI: 10.5220/0004624201430151


in Bibtex Style

@conference{sensoryfusion13,
author={Maria Martins and Carlos Cifuentes and Arlindo Elias and Valmir Schneider and Anselmo Frizera and Cristina Santos},
title={Assessment of Walker-assisted Human Interaction from LRF and Wearable Wireless Inertial Sensors},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics - Volume 1: SensoryFusion, (NEUROTECHNIX 2013)},
year={2013},
pages={143-151},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0004624201430151},
isbn={978-989-8565-80-8},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics - Volume 1: SensoryFusion, (NEUROTECHNIX 2013)
TI - Assessment of Walker-assisted Human Interaction from LRF and Wearable Wireless Inertial Sensors
SN - 978-989-8565-80-8
AU - Martins M.
AU - Cifuentes C.
AU - Elias A.
AU - Schneider V.
AU - Frizera A.
AU - Santos C.
PY - 2013
SP - 143
EP - 151
DO - 10.5220/0004624201430151