A new ultrasonic stride length measuring system

We have developed a new ultrasonic stride length measuring system for analyzing the human gait. An ultrasonic transmitter, a radio transmitter, a pressure sensor and microcontroller are attached to the subject’s heel on the right shoe and in the direction of the left shoe. Two ultrasonic receivers, a radio receiver, a microcontroller and a 1GB SD memory card are installed on the left shoe. Ultrasonic receivers are attached to the toe and heel, in the direction of the right shoe. When the right foot contacts the ground, its heel-mounted ultrasonic and radio transmitters simultaneously transmit to the left shoe. However, radio propagation velocity is far faster than ultrasonic velocity. Therefore, the radio wave acts as a start signal to the radio receiver of the left shoe, indicating the start of ultrasound transmission from the right shoe. Upon receiving the start signal, the microcontroller timer starts to measure each ultrasound propagation time from the right shoe to the left shoe. Distance between right and left shoes is calculated with the time and ultrasound velocity and stored in the SD memory card. Stride length is calculated with a cosine function, by using the obtained distances and the distance between the toe and heel of the left shoe, by a conventional computer. The stride length can then be used for many characterizations of the subject’s gait.