Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 27, 2025
An Inertial Measurement Unit Based Method to Estimate Hip and Knee Joint Kinematics in Team Sport Athletes on the Field
Published on: May 26, 2020
Evaluation of an inertial measurement unit-based approach for determining centre-of-mass movement during non-seated
Ross D Wilkinson1, Glen A Lichtwark1
1Centre for Sensorimotor Performance School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
Abstract:
Instantaneous crank power does not equal total joint power if a rider's centre of mass (CoM) gains and loses mechanical energy. Thus, estimating CoM motion and the associated energy changes can provide valuable information about the mechanics of cycling. To date, an accurate and precise method for tracking CoM motion during outdoor cycling has not been validated.
Purpose:
To assess the suitability of using data from a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) secured to the lower back of the rider for estimating CoM motion during non-seated cycling by comparing vertical displacement derived from the IMU to that of an attached marker cluster and to a full-body kinematic estimate of vertical CoM displacement.
Methods:
IMU and motion capture data were collected synchronously for 10 s while participants (n = 7) cycled on an ergometer in a non-seated posture at six combinations of power output and cadence. A limits-of-agreement analysis, corrected for repeated measures, was performed on the range of vertical displacement between the IMU and the two other measures. A total of 303 crank cycles were analysed.
Results:
There was excellent agreement between the vertical displacement derived from the IMU and the attached marker cluster (accuracy = 1.6 mm, precision = 3.5 mm). Vertical displacement derived from the IMU systematically overestimated the kinematic estimate of whole-body CoM-with errors increasing linearly with displacement.
Conclusion:
We interpret these findings as evidence that a single IMU secured to the lower back can provide a suitable approach for deriving a cyclist's CoM displacement when they ride out of the saddle, but only if the linearly increasing overestimation is accounted for.
