A NOVEL APPROACH TO MONITOR THE GROUND REACTION FORCE

Abstract

Custom developed spikes have been used to monitor the vertical GRF temporally resolved for body weight, walking, and jumping on a synthetic surface. All the data is derived from the time dependent voltage variations of piezo spikes, which are observed with the aid of a computer controlled transient recorder. The detection is obtained on two piezoelectric spikes of identical size and shape placed under heel and forefoot. Monitoring is performed on ten healthy athletes with age 19 ± 4 years, mass of (57 ± 6) kg, and a BMI of 21 ± 3. The force resolution is ± 0.25 N and the temporal resolution is 0.01 ms. The contact time, take off time, impact force, active force phases of heel and forefoot have been quantified. The system is of compact size and battery driven, and allows for monitoring of on-field GRF sporting activities.