Wearable rumble device for active asymmetry measurement and correction in lower limb mobility

The main objective of this works is to develop a wearable device to improve sport training in lower limb. The system consists of a pair of spandex shorts which embed a processor unit, 2 accelerometers, 2 vibro motors, a SD card reader\writer module and a real time clock. The accelerometers are located in proximity to the knees and are used to measure in real time the tri-axial accelerations for each leg. We present a novel algorithm to compute asymmetry from the 3 axial sensor data. We propose two applications of the system: for real time active correction and for data logging. In the correction mode, adjustment signal are sent to the user during the training by vibrations. The vibration signal is sent to the specific leg and its intensity is related to the entity of required correction. The second application of the system is as datalogger. The device stores all the training data in a SD card. Those log files can be processed using a dedicated application on a PC. This information can be very useful for long term analysis. This novel approach to sport training is very useful to athletes and sport medicine doctor in order to improve posture, efficiency and performance, but it can be also useful in other medical appliances such as rehabilitation.