Estimation of Ground Reaction Forces during Sports Movements by Sensor Fusion from Inertial Measurement Units with 3D...

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Sports Science
• Motion Analysis

Background:

• Rotational jumps are vital in sports, requiring accurate ground reaction force (GRF) estimation for performance analysis.
• Traditional GRF measurement methods (e.g., force plates) have limitations in accessibility and applicability.
• Existing biomechanical models often require extensive data or specific measurement environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel method for estimating GRFs during rotational jumps.
• To enable biomechanical analysis of complex movements independent of specialized equipment or large datasets.
• To provide a versatile tool for analyzing jump techniques in various settings.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 3D forward dynamics model combined with optimization calculations.
• Employed inertial measurement units (IMUs) to capture rotational jump movements on land.
• Integrated sensor fusion with an extended Kalman filter for accurate 3D orientation estimation, mitigating dynamic acceleration effects.

Main Results:

• Successfully calculated biomechanically valid GRFs by generating cost function-based movements.
• The estimation method accurately followed measured movements, even with incomplete IMU coverage of all joints.
• Demonstrated the capability to estimate GRFs and body loads effectively.

Conclusions:

• The developed estimation approach offers a measurement condition- and training data-independent solution for 3D motion analysis.
• This method significantly enhances the accessibility of biomechanical analysis for rotational jumps.
• Provides a robust alternative for GRF estimation in sports science and performance evaluation.