University of Michigan

Other

Noel C Perkins

Ryan S McGinnis

Kevin William King

Thomas Francis Perkins

Ryan Doss

Brian R Copple

A method and apparatus for monitoring the head and torso orientation of a subject during physical motion. The method and apparatus employ at least two inertial measurement units (IMUs) being temporally synchronized with each other and each measuring three degrees of freedom of angular velocity, acceleration, and optionally magnetic field. A first IMU being affixed to the head of the subject and the second IMU being affixed to the torso of the subject. The orientation of the head, the orientation of the torso, and optionally the relative orientation of the head and torso are calculated based on the data from the IMU's and optionally magnetometer data. The resultant output data is transmitted to a host device (computer, tablet, smart phone) and can be used for monitoring, training, coaching, worker safety and health, and/or rehabilitation.

IMU system for assessing head and torso orientation during physical motion

A method for calculating the location of the center-of-rotation of a joint with an attached member. The method employs an inertial measurement unit (IMU) having an angular rate gyro and an accelerometer and coupling the inertial measurement unit to the member for detection of movement of the member. The inertial measurement unit outputs data representative of angular velocity and acceleration of the member mounted IMU in response to movement of the joint. The method further comprising analyzing the angular rate and acceleration data to determine the center-of-rotation of the joint.

Ball joint center locating method using data from attached inertial measurement unit

An apparatus and method for calculating athlete speed non-invasively, on the field/court of play using data from a torso-mounted inertial measurement unit. The method complements existing, GPS-based methods for calculating athlete speed by enabling use in environments where GPS signal is unavailable (i.e. indoors).

Athlete speed prediction method using data from attached inertial measurement unit

An apparatus for analyzing free flight of a body including an inertial measurement unit having at least one accelerometer continuously measuring three orthogonal axes of acceleration and outputting data representative thereof and a processing unit operably receiving the data and determining three components of an angular velocity of the body during free flight.

Apparatus and method for identifying and analyzing the free flight dynamics of a body

A measurement system having a miniature, wireless inertial measurement unit (IMU) disposed within or on a moving object, such as a ball or other member, to calculate the kinematics of the moving object.

Pitcher training apparatus and method using a ball with an embedded inertial measurement unit

An application of rate gyros and accelerometers allows electronic measurement of the motion of a rigid or semi-rigid body, such as a body associated with sporting equipment including a fly rod during casting, a baseball bat, a tennis racquet or a golf club during swinging. For instance, data can be collected by one gyro according to the present invention is extremely useful in analyzing the motion of a fly rod during fly casting instruction, and can also be used during the research, development and design phases of fly casting equipment including fly rods and fly lines. Similarly, data collected by three gyros and three accelerometers is extremely useful in analyzing the three dimensional motion of other sporting equipment such as baseball bats, tennis racquets and golf clubs. This data can be used to support instruction as well as design of the sporting equipment.

Electronic measurement of the motion of a moving body of sports equipment

A bird feeding device is disclosed which can be accessed by birds and not by squirrels. The device comprises a container for holding feed and a wire mesh enclosing the container. An o-ring supports the container within the wire mesh and spaces the mesh away from the container such that the mesh is not directly in contact with the container whereby squirrels are prevented from accessing the container.

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Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Noel C Perkins