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A Wide-Range, Wireless Wearable Inertial Motion Sensing System for Capturing Fast Athletic Biomechanics in Overhead
Michael Lapinski1, Carolina Brum Medeiros2, Donna Moxley Scarborough3
1Responsive Environments Group, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 24, 2019
Summary
This study introduces a new wireless wearable sensor system for advanced biomechanical analysis in sports. The system accurately captures high-speed motion, offering insights into athletic performance and potential injury risks.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Sports Science
- Wearable Technology
Background:
- Marker-based optical systems have limitations in capturing high-speed sports motion, affecting accuracy of velocity, acceleration, forces, and torques.
- Conventional systems require extensive setup, are sensitive to light, and sample too slowly for extreme athletic movements.
- Wireless wearable sensors offer a potential solution to overcome these limitations in sports performance assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address limitations of current motion capture technologies in sports.
- To develop and evaluate a wearable dual-range inertial and magnetic sensor platform for wide dynamic-range biomechanical analysis.
- To investigate performance-relevant motion and potential micro-trauma assessment in elite athletes.
Main Methods:
- Developed a novel wearable dual-range inertial and magnetic sensor platform.
- Surveyed the state-of-the-art in wearable motion capture for sports.
- Tested the system on collegiate and elite baseball pitchers, deriving and measuring biomechanical metrics.
Main Results:
- The developed sensor platform enabled end-to-end investigation of high-level biomechanical parameters.
- Derived and measured performance-relevant motion metrics in baseball pitchers.
- Identified limitations from soft-tissue artifacts during extreme motion and discussed new metric opportunities.
Conclusions:
- The novel wireless sensor array provides a unique capability for analyzing elite baseball pitchers' biomechanics.
- The system offers potential for assessing micro-trauma and enhancing sports performance analysis.
- Further research is needed to refine accuracy and fully leverage the system's capabilities.
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