Joint motion sensing to make a determination of a positional change of an individual

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9700238-B2
Application number	US-201113134208-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2011
Priority date	Oct 11, 2002
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus in one example comprises one or more sensors that produce one or more signals based on one or more joint motions of an individual, and one or more processing components that employ one or more of the one or more signals to make a determination of a positional change of the individual.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method that uses a processing component to determine a change of location of an individual from a known starting location, the method comprising:
measuring articulation movements and twisting movements of one or more joints of an individual using corresponding strain sensors adjacent the one or more joints;
storing values corresponding to the measured articulation and twisting movements in a data storage medium;
determining, by the processing component, a change of displacement of the individual from the known starting location based on the stored values of the measured articulation movements relative to stored calibration factors of displacement and a change of directional location of the individual from the known starting location based on the stored values of the measured twisting movements relative to stored calibration factors of direction, where the calibration factors of displacement and direction define the relationship between the values of articulation and twisting movement and corresponding amounts of displacement and direction, respectively, of the individual;
integrating the strain sensors into a suit wearable by the individual;
determining the changed location of the individual relative to the known starting location based on the change of displacement and the change of directional location;
displaying the changed location of the individual on a display.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a path traversed by the individual based on a series of values corresponding to the measured articulation and twisting movements of the individual;
displaying the path of the individual on the display.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measured articulation movements comprises:
measuring a strain on a strain sensor induced on the strain sensor by movement of the joint adjacent to the strain sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adding a series of the location changes of the individual to a known starting location of the individual to determine an updated location of the individual.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining supplementary location information of the individual from one of an inertial navigation system and a global positioning satellite system; and
weighing and combining the supplementary location information from the one or more supplementary navigation components and the changed location of the individual to generated an integrated location of the individual.

6. A method that uses a processing component to determine a path traversed by an individual, the method comprising:
measuring a series of articulation and twisting movements of one or more joints of an individual using strain sensors disposed near the one or more joints on the individual as the individual traverses the path;
integrating the strain sensors into a suit wearable by the individual;
storing articulation and twisting values corresponding to each measurement in the series of articulation and twisting measurements in a data storage medium;
converting the articulation and twisting values into corresponding changes of displacement and directional location, respectively, of the individual based on calibration factors of displacement and directional location obtained by storing articulation and twisting values while the individual is at known locations, where the calibration factors of displacement and direction define the relationship between the values of articulation and twisting movement and corresponding amounts of displacement and direction, respectively, of the individual;
determining locations of the individual along the path based on the changes of displacement and directional locations;
displaying the path traversed by the individual based on the locations of the individual along the path.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
creating a map of an area using the path.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
adding the location change of the individual to a known starting location of the individual to determine an updated location of the individual.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
obtaining supplementary location information from one or more supplementary navigation components; and
weighing and combining the supplementary location information from the one or more supplementary navigation components and the determined locations of the individual to generated an integrated location of the individual.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more supplementary navigation components comprise one or more components selected from the group consisting of a global positioning system (“GPS”) and an inertial navigation system (“INS”).

Assignees

• Stewart Robert E
• Northrop Grumman Systems Corp

Inventors

• Stewart Robert E

Classifications

• G01C21/166

  Mechanical, construction or arrangement details of inertial navigation systems · CPC title

• A61B5/6807

  Footwear · CPC title

• A61B5/6804

  Garments; Clothes · CPC title

• A41D13/02

  Overalls {, e.g. bodysuits or bib overalls} (sweating suits A61H36/00) · CPC title

• A61B5/1113 Primary

  Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home · CPC title