Application of Portable Force Platforms Equipped with a Device for Measuring Position and Orientation

Abstract

With the development of modern technology for studying the movements of the human body, a large number of new measurement techniques are being applied. However, a complex and expensive device is not always the best one for personal requirements or for professional needs. We havedesigned and tested a new universal way to study the forces under the feet based on force platformsequipped with a device for measuring position and orientation. The device for measuring position andorientation is used to identify the relative positions of the two inexpensive force platforms in 3-D space. Knowledge of the relative positions and orientations of the force platforms allows us to adjust the two force platforms in 3-D space. The technique allows the force platform system for measuring and calculating the forces under the feet and the position of the center of pressure to be set up rapidly. The new technique, based on inexpensive portable force platforms equipped with a device for measuring position and orientation, is used and described for the first time here. This work attempts to describe potential ways of applying the technique.