Abstract
Advanced motion analysis method of the upper limbs using inertial sensor is proposed. To estimate the posture of the upper limbs, inertial sensor that is composed of a triaxial accelerometer, a triaxial gyroscope and a triaxial geomagnetic sensor is developed. Two inertial sensors are attached to the right and left clavicle to observe the motion between sternoclavicular joint and acromioclavicular, and totally eight sensors are used to estimate the posture of upper limbs. One subject performed four types of upper arm motion in which position of shoulder joint changes. The position of the shoulder, elbow and wrist obtained from the inertial sensor was compared with reference obtained by optical motion capture system. The error of the joint position of upper limb was reduced by considering the movement of clavicle. The proposed method provides precision motion analysis of upper limbs.
