Novel non-contact and non-attached technique for detecting sports motion

• Published in: Measurement : journal of the International Measurement Confederation Vol. 44; no. 8; pp. 1361 - 1366
• Main Author: Kurita, Koichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2011
• Subjects: capacitance; Current measurement; detection; electric current; electrodes; Electrostatic induction; humans; locomotion; measurement; Non-contact detection; sports; Sports motion; Electrostatic induction; Non-contact detection; Sports motion; Current measurement
• ISSN: 0263-2241; 1873-412X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2011.05.001

► We propose a technique for detecting sports motion by measuring the current generated by a change in the electric potential of the human body. ► Proposed technique involves the detection of the electrostatic induction current flowing through the electrode that is placed near a subject. ► We could quantitatively estimate the time for which the athlete’s foot was in contact with and off the ground under non-contact conditions. In this study, we propose an effective non-contact and non-attached technique for detecting sports motion by measuring the current, which is approximately of the order of sub-picoamperes, generated because of a change in the capacitance between a given electrode and the human body. An occurrence model is proposed for the electrostatic induction current generated because of a change in the electric potential of the subject’s body due to foot motions. We apply the proposed technique to determine the time for which an athlete’s foot remains in contact with the ground and off the ground during pitching and batting motions while playing baseball. Thus, we can quantitatively estimate the time for which an athlete’s foot is in contact with the ground and off the ground on the basis of the time at which peaks were observed in the waveforms of the electrostatic induction current.