DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERISING MOVEMENTS

摘要

The invention relates to a device and to a method for characterising movements made by an object, in particular a limb of a human being, fitted with at least one accelerometer sensor. The invention is particularly useful for determining the direction, the orientation and the length of the steps of said human being. The invention uses algorithms for processing the signals from the sensor in order to segment the steps by detecting the lifting and lowering of said limb from and on the floor or ground by comparing output signals from the sensor to thresholds, determine the direction and the orientation of the steps by comparing the maximum values of the signals along two axes substantially parallel to the walking plane, and calculate the length of a step by double integration of the signals according to the direction of the step. The invention can also be used for hand movements having variation characteristics close to those of steps.