| Group |
2014-9 |
Status |
completed |
| Title |
Gate-Monitoring Shoe Inserts |
| Supervisor |
Dr. Glenn Cowan |
| Description |
The advent of minimalist running shoes has shone a spotlight on the importance of running gait and the possible relationship between running gait and overuse injury. A soon-to-be-released wearable fabric sock from Sensoria purports to indicate to runners if they are landing mid-foot or are heal striking. However, the technology does not appear to measure the ground-strike force and report on its peak magnitude and its rate of onset.
In this project, students will select an appropriate sensor technology to measure the distribution of force under the shoe with the goal of giving a visual profile of its distribution along with a measure of the rate of onset. This could be stored and displayed after a run. It can also track the fatigue-induced deterioration of running dynamics.
Information from the sensors should be processed by a suitable analog-to-digital converter and microcontroller.
Other metrics to consider measuring are the cadence (strides per minute) of the user as well as the height of the gate cycle. These measurements can be enabled through the use of an accelerometer.
The ideal implementation will fit nicely into shoes with possible modifications to the shoes. It will transmit wirelessly to a hand-held device such as a smart phone.
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| Student Requirement |
A group with a good range of expertise is sought. Electronics (II would be ideal). Familiarity with FPGAs and microcontrollers is necessary. Experience programming. An interested in running is an asset. |
| Tools |
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| Number of Students |
3-5 is fine |
| Students |
Chelsea Pomerantz
Ty Boer
Gordon Bailey |
| Comments: |
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| Links: |
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