A wearable airbag to prevent fall injuries.
We have developed a wearable airbag that incorporates a fall-detection system that uses both acceleration and angular velocity signals to trigger inflation of the airbag. The fall-detection algorithm was devised using a thresholding technique with an accelerometer and gyro sensor. Sixteen subjects mimicked falls, and their acceleration waveforms were monitored. Then, we developed a fall-detection algorithm that could detect signals 300 ms before the fall. This signal was used as a trigger to inflate the airbag to a capacity of 2.4 L. Although the proposed system can help to prevent fall-related injuries, further development is needed to miniaturize the inflation system.
Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba 2638522, Japan. tamurat@bfaculty.chiba-u.jp
Toshiyo
T
Tamura
Takumi
T
Yoshimura
Masaki
M
Sekine
Mitsuo
M
Uchida
Osamu
O
Tanaka
D000054:Acceleration; D000058:Accidental Falls; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017278:Air Bags; D000465:Algorithms; D003020:Clothing; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*