Self-Alignment/Navigation Performance Analysis in the Accelerometer Resonance State Generated by Dither Motion of Ring Laser Gyroscope in Laser Inertial Navigation System

In this paper, we theoretically analyzed the self-alignment/navigation performance in the accelerometer resonance state generated by dither motion of ring laser gyroscope in LINS and verified it through simulation. As a result of analysis, it is confirmed that the amplitude of the accelerometer measurement amplified in the accelerometer resonance state is decreased in the process of sampling per the navigation calculation period and that frequency is changed by the aliasing effect too. It was also analysed that the attitude error in self-alignment is determined by the amplitude/frequency of the accelerometer measurement, the gain of the self-alignment loop, and the velocity and position error in the navigation is determined by the amplitude/frequency/phase error of the accelerometer measurement. This analysis and simulation results show that the self-alignment and navigation performance is not be degraded only when the amplification factor of the accelerometer measurement in the accelerometer resonance state is 3 or less

A Study on the Essential and Parkinson’s Arm Tremor Classification

In this article, the challenge of discriminating between essential and Parkinson’s tremor is addressed. Although a variety of methods have been proposed for diagnosing the severity of these highly occurring tremor types, their rapid and effective identification, especially in their early stages, proves particularly difficult and complicated due to their wide range of causes and similarity of symptoms. To this goal, a clinical analysis was performed, where a number of volunteers including essential and Parkinson’s tremor-diagnosed patients underwent a series of pre-defined motion patterns, during which a wearable sensing setup was used to measure their lower arm tremor characteristics from multiple selected points. Extracted features from the acquired accelerometer signals were used to train classification algorithms, including decision trees, discriminant analysis, support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and ensemble learning algorithms, for providing a comparative study and evaluating the potential of utilizing machine learning to accurately discriminate among different tremor types. Overall, SVM related classifiers proved to be the most successful in terms of classifying between Parkinson’s, essential and no tremor diagnosed with percentages reaching up to 100% for a single accelerometer measurement at the metacarpal area. In general and in motion while holding an object position, Coarse Gaussian SVM classifier reached 82.62% accuracy.

Measurement Reactivity of Accelerometer-Based Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity in 2 Assessment Periods

Background: The purposes of this study were to examine accelerometer measurement reactivity (AMR) in sedentary behavior (SB), physical activity (PA), and accelerometer wear time in 2 measurement periods and to quantify AMR as a human-related source of bias for the reproducibility of SB and PA estimates. Methods: In total, 136 participants (65% women, mean age = 54.6 y) received 7-day accelerometry at the baseline and after 12 months. Latent growth models were used to identify AMR. Intraclass correlations were calculated to examine the reproducibility using 2-level mixed-effects linear regression analyses. Results: Within each 7-day accelerometry assessment, the participants increased their time spent in SB (b = 2.4 min/d; b = 3.8 min/d) and reduced their time spent in light PA (b = −2.0 min/d; b = −3.2 min/d), but did not change moderate to vigorous PA. The participants reduced their wear time (b = −5.2 min/d) only at the baseline. The intraclass correlations ranged from .42 for accelerometer wear time to .74 for SB. The AMR was not identified as a source of bias in any regression model. Conclusions: AMR may influence SB and PA estimates differentially. Although 7-day accelerometry seems to be a reproducible measure, our findings highlight accelerometer wear time as a crucial confounder in analyzing SB and PA data.

Accelerometer Measurement of Trunk Lateral Fluctuation During Walking Following Total Knee Arthroplasty in Patients With Osteoarthritis

This study aimed to clarify the effect of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) on trunk fluctuation and regularity of gait in patients with knee osteoarthritis by an accelerometer. The participants included 18 patients with knee osteoarthritis undergoing TKA. The gait at a comfortable velocity was assessed pre- and post-TKA by a triaxial accelerometer attached to the neck and lumbar regions. Measurement post-TKA was performed 4 weeks after surgery. Trunk fluctuation was estimated by the root mean square (RMS) of acceleration and RMS ratio (the ratio of RMS in each direction to the total RMS). Regularity of gait was estimated using the autocorrelation function. The results showed that TKA significantly decreased the RMS ratio in mediolateral acceleration of the neck and lumbar regions and reduced gait regularity. TKA appears to reduce compensatory trunk motion through the improvement of knee function. An assessment of trunk fluctuation using an accelerometer is useful for the clinical assessment of patients with knee osteoarthritis pre- and post-TKA.

Reactivity to Accelerometer Measurement of Children With Visual Impairments and Their Family Members

The purpose of this study was to examine reactivity to accelerometer measurement in children with visual impairments (VI), their sighted siblings, and their parents. A sample of 66 participants (including 22 children with VI, 22 siblings, and 22 parents) completed a demographic survey and wore triaxial accelerometers for at least 4 consecutive days for 8 hr. An analysis of covariances with repeated measures was conducted, controlling for participant gender. Children with VI had 8.1% less moderate to vigorous physical activity time on Day 1 than Days 2–4 average. Their sighted siblings and parents had 7.8% and 7.1% more moderate to vigorous physical activity time on Day 1 than their Days 2–4 average, respectively. The reactivity percentage for parents and children without VI is consistent with existing literature. However, an inverse reactivity for children with VI was found, which is a unique contribution to the literature and will have implications for researchers using accelerometers for this population.

Correction of Oblique-Angle Oscillation for Laser Doppler Vibrometry

The paper proposes a correction method of the oblique-angle vibration for laser doppler vibrometry. It briefly discusses the key mathematical approach considering the surface of the analysed object to be a reference plane and gives a practical example of the method proper application. The proposed correction method is practically verified by laboratory measurement of natural frequencies and mode shapes for vibrations of high voltage transformer housing. The results are further compared to equivalent accelerometer measurement.