Paper Info
Title
POF Smart Carpet: A Multiplexed Polymer Optical Fiber-Embedded Smart Carpet for Gait Analysis.
Abstract
This paper presents the development of a smart carpet based on polymer optical fiber (POF) for ground reaction force (GRF) and spatio-temporal gait parameter assessment. The proposed carpet has 20 intensity variation-based sensors on one fiber with two photodetectors for acquisition, each one for the response of 10 closer sensors. The used multiplexing technique is based on side-coupling between the light sources and POF lateral sections in which one light-emitting diode (LED) is activated at a time, sequentially. Three tests were performed, two for sensor characterization and one for validation of the smart carpet, where the first test consisted of the application of calibrated weights on the top of each sensor for force characterization. In the second test, the foot was positioned on predefined points distributed on the carpet, where a mean relative error of 2.9% was obtained. Results of the walking tests on the proposed POF-embedded smart carpet showed the possibility of estimating the GRF and spatio-temporal gait parameters (step and stride lengths, cadence, and stance duration). The obtained results make possible the identification of gait events (stance and swing phases) as well as the stance duration and double support periods. The proposed carpet is a low-cost and reliable tool for gait analysis in different applications.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.3390/s19153356
SENSORS
Keywords
Field
DocType
gait analysis,polymer optical fiber sensors,ground reaction force,spatio-temporal gait parameters,smart textile
Cadence,Optical fiber,STRIDE,Gait,Simulation,Electronic engineering,Ground reaction force,Gait analysis,Engineering,Multiplexing,Swing
Journal
Volume
Issue
Citations 
19
15
1
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.35
0
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Leticia M Avellar110.35
Arnaldo G Leal-Junior221.01
Camilo A R Diaz320.72
Carlos A. F. Marques42312.72
Anselmo Frizera52510.89