Strain- and Angular-Sensing Fabrics for Human Motion Analysis in Daily Life

Abstract

Human motion analysis concerns real-time tracking and recording of sub-ject's kinematics. The possibility to perform ambulatory and daily-life human motion monitoring would represent a breakthrough for many applications and disciplines. In this context, smart textiles can provide a valid alternative with respect to conventional solid-state sensors thanks to their low cost, lightweight, flexibility and possibility to be adapted to different body structures. The present chapter analyses the working principle, the manufacture and the characterisation of textile-based strain and angular sensors. The strain sensors are piezoresitive textiles that can be used to reconstruct the human movement by measuring the associated strain fields. The angular sensors can be manufactured by coupling two piezoresistive fabrics through an insulating layer and are able to directly measure angular displacement. These textile goniometers are not sensitive to the precise positioning and to the bending profile and provide a reli-able measurement system which represents an important step forward in wearable human motion detection.