Development of a Wireless Angle-Measurement Spoon for Eating Motion

Abstract

At mealtimes, handicapped persons who have disabilities that affect the nervous system or the skeletal muscle system may have difficulty in avoiding spills. It is necessary for the handicapped persons to develop an active spoon, which controls itself intelligently and supports the user's meal. In this study, we herein develop a wireless angle-measurement spoon and investigate the relationship between spoon actions (scooping, bringing, etc.) and spoon angles (the rotational and azimuthal angles). The relationship between the angles predicted using the angle-measurement spoon and the measured angles of a moving spoon obtained by three-dimensional (3D) image processing were investigated using the angle-measurement spoon to which a Bluetooth communication module and a three-axis acceleration sensor were mounted, and a peripheral interface controller (PIC) microcomputer was used to program an algorithm for the prediction of the rotational and azimuthal angles. The correlation factors R for the azimuthal and rotational angles were 0.97. Acceleration induced by eating motion had a few influences on the predicted angles. Thus, the developed wireless angle-measurement spoon is adequate for measurement of the rotational and azimuthal spoon angles during a meal. It is necessary for a posture control of the active spoon to detect the each spoon actions and to control avoidance spilling.