Does the Position of Foot-Mounted IMU Sensors Influence the Accuracy of Spatio-Temporal Parameters in Endurance Running?

Zrenner M, Küderle A, Roth N, Jensen U, Dümler B, Eskofier B (2020)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Sensors MDPI

Book Volume: 20

Article Number: 5705

Journal Issue: 19

DOI: 10.3390/s20195705

Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/s20195705

Abstract

Wearable sensor technology already has a great impact on the endurance running community. Smartwatches and heart rate monitors are heavily used to evaluate runners’ performance and monitor their training progress. Additionally, foot-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs) have drawn the attention of sport scientists due to the possibility to monitor biomechanically relevant spatio-temporal parameters outside the lab in real-world environments. Researchers developed and investigated algorithms to extract various features using IMU data of different sensor positions on the foot. In this work, we evaluate whether the sensor position of IMUs mounted to running shoes has an impact on the accuracy of different spatio-temporal parameters. We compare both the raw data of the IMUs at different sensor positions as well as the accuracy of six endurance running-related parameters. We contribute a study with 29 subjects wearing running shoes equipped with four IMUs on both the left and the right shoes and a motion capture system as ground truth. The results show that the IMUs measure different raw data depending on their position on the foot and that the accuracy of the spatio-temporal parameters depends on the sensor position. We recommend to integrate IMU sensors in a cavity in the sole of a running shoe under the foot’s arch, because the raw data of this sensor position is best suitable for the reconstruction of the foot trajectory during a stride.

Authors with CRIS profile

Markus Zrenner Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Mathematik Arne Küderle Lehrstuhl für Informatik 14 (Machine Learning and Data Analytics) Nils Roth Lehrstuhl für Informatik 14 (Machine Learning and Data Analytics) Björn Eskofier Lehrstuhl für Informatik 14 (Machine Learning and Data Analytics)

Additional Organisation(s)

Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab

Involved external institutions

Adidas AG DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Zrenner, M., Küderle, A., Roth, N., Jensen, U., Dümler, B., & Eskofier, B. (2020). Does the Position of Foot-Mounted IMU Sensors Influence the Accuracy of Spatio-Temporal Parameters in Endurance Running? Sensors, 20(19). https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20195705

MLA:

Zrenner, Markus, et al. "Does the Position of Foot-Mounted IMU Sensors Influence the Accuracy of Spatio-Temporal Parameters in Endurance Running?" Sensors 20.19 (2020).

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