Design and Manufacturing a Portable Smart Sole for Measuring the Ground Reaction Force

Abstract

The systematic study of human locomotion known as gait analysis can be applied in various contexts, including athletics, rehabilitation, and clinical diagnoses. However, the present gait analysis methods have several limitations that make them inappropriate for individual use, such as the fact that they are expensive, non-portable, need a significant amount of time to set up, and require additional time for post-processing. This study aims to investigate and develop a gait analysis system to measure the vertical ground reaction forces. The measurement instrument qualities of being flexible, portable, and comfortable are essential to the design of wearable sensors. The device was calibrated using a universal testing machine (Force plate device). In addition, this study used flexible force sensors for detecting vGRF. The result shows the device works with high efficiency and accuracy in measurement when calculating the values of ground reaction force compared with the values ​​ of reaction force measured by the university testing machines. Keywords: Gait cycle, Ground reaction force, Arduino, Force plate, Smart sole