Theoretical and experimental studies on the dynamic characteristics of human gait monitoring sensor

Abstract

Due to the growing need for low-cost, easy-to-use human health monitoring systems, it is important to develop new devices and their components. This paper presents the research on the dynamic characteristics of a cheap and straightforward Velostat®-based sensor that can be used to monitor human gait. The developed sensor prototype was tested using the Finite element method (FEM) and performing practical experiments using a developed test rig that dynamically loads the sensor. Results of FEM analysis show that the structure is reliable under a force of up to 5 N and its displacement linearly depends on the added force and does not exceed 0.1 μm, By simulating the human gait at different frequencies on the test bench as a sinusoidally cycling load, it was found that as the frequency increases up to 16 Hz, the variation of sensor response is insignificant. Therefore, such a sensor could be successfully implemented for human gait monitoring, and other applications where detecting a load trend change is preferred over monitoring its accurate amplitude.