Yukinobu Sugimura

Development of a shoe-type device for collecting gait information

We are developing a measurement device by means of which gait information can be obtained that cannot be obtained by existent devices. We are also evaluating the effectiveness of the device in rehabilitation programs. The final goal of our work is to realize a space where patients can exe- cute their rehabilitation routines at any time. In this paper, we report the outline of our novel measurement device. That is to say, we describe our real-time measurement technique for measuring the position and angle of the feet to obtain the gait information, as well as our method of presenting the gait in- formation.

Proposal of a Direction Guidance System for Evacuation

In this paper, we propose a device that indicates the direction to evacuate. Our proposed system, which would present the direction through the tactile sensation of the head, could be used in no visibility environment such as filled smoke. This paper describes a feasibility of our proposed system and indicates problems to be solved.

An estimation of the force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off based on the plantar information

The purpose of this research was to estimate the force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off based on the plantar information. First, we estimated the time of seat-off and calculated force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off from data gathered in a standing-up experiment using our pressure measurement system. Second, we measured force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off by means of a pull force measurement setup. Then, we compared the calculated and the measured forces for lifting the buttocks at seat-off The results were as follows: 1) the time of seat-off was almost identical to the time when the vertical reaction force was largest, and 2) the calculated force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off was almost equal to the measured force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off We believe that the force for lifting the buttocks at seat-off can be estimated from the plantar information.