Wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback
Through the inertial measurement unit and funnel illusion technology, a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback is realized, solving the problem of low feedback accuracy of existing balance training devices, and users can quickly correct their posture and reduce the risk of falling.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202510665675.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-05-22
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-19
AI Technical Summary
The existing balance training devices have low feedback accuracy and slow response speed. They can easily distract users' attention by relying on visual and auditory feedback, making it difficult to achieve high-precision real-time posture correction.
It adopts an inertial measurement unit IMU, which integrates a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope and a three-axis angular velocity meter, and combines a Kalman filter to monitor the user's waist posture in real time, and generates funnel illusion virtual tactile points through four linear resonance actuators to achieve high-precision real-time tactile feedback.
It significantly improves the spatial resolution of tactile feedback, allowing users to accurately perceive tiny directional deviations, quickly correct postures, reduce the risk of falling, reduce the number and cost of hardware, and is suitable for large-scale applications.
Smart Images
Figure CN120502079A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of posture monitoring, and in particular to a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback. Background Art
[0002] Balance is an important indicator of daily activities and health, and is crucial for maintaining postural stability and coordination during daily activities. Decreased balance may increase the risk of falls, especially in the elderly and rehabilitation patients.
[0003] Existing balance training devices primarily rely on visual and auditory feedback to guide the user's movement adjustments. While this feedback method is relatively mature in implementation, it has significant shortcomings. First, visual and auditory feedback often experience response delays when transmitting information, making it impossible to accurately capture and correct subtle balance deviations in real time, thus affecting the timeliness and effectiveness of training. Second, due to the limitations of the device's display and sound output, its feedback accuracy is relatively low, making it difficult to accurately identify and respond to subtle changes in human movement. Furthermore, this reliance on external sensory input can easily distract the user. For example, strong visual stimulation or abrupt sound interference can cause the user to lose focus during training, affecting the overall training experience and effectiveness. Some researchers have begun exploring tactile feedback systems as a supplementary or alternative solution. By applying physical stimulation directly to the skin, tactile feedback can reduce reliance on visual and auditory channels to a certain extent, thereby reducing sensory interference and allowing users to focus more on the exercise itself.
[0004] Existing tactile feedback systems also face numerous challenges. Tactile feedback devices require the deployment of a large amount of hardware, such as multiple tactile stimulation units and sophisticated sensors. This not only increases the overall complexity of the system, but also limits spatial layout, making it difficult to achieve uniform coverage of all parts of the body. At the same time, due to limitations in hardware technology and design, the spatial resolution of these devices is still insufficient, making it difficult to accurately capture the subtle movements of various parts of the user's body, thus restricting the realization of high-precision spatial feedback. Furthermore, the high cost of equipment and complex maintenance requirements also make such systems face many obstacles in their actual promotion and large-scale application, further hindering their popularization. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems of low feedback accuracy and slow response speed in the prior art and to provide a wearable posture control system with high precision and high real-time performance.
[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is to provide a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback, which includes: a detection unit, a control unit, a feedback unit and a communication unit;
[0007] The detection unit and the feedback unit are installed on the same belt. When the user wears the belt, the detection unit and the feedback unit respectively transmit data to the control unit through the communication unit.
[0008] The detection unit includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that integrates a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis angular velocity meter, as well as a Kalman filter;
[0009] The inertial measurement unit (IMU) collects the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data of the human waist in real time and transmits them to the Kalman filter. The Kalman filter denoises the raw data and transmits it to the control unit through the communication unit.
[0010] The control unit converts the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data into the pitch angle θ Y and roll angle θ X , determining the tilt angle and tilt intensity, generating a feedback instruction and transmitting it to the feedback unit through the communication unit;
[0011] The feedback unit includes an Arduino Uno R4 core controller and four linear resonance actuators (LRAs). When the user wears the belt, the four linear resonance actuators (LRAs) are located in front, back, left, and right of the user's waist.
[0012] The core controller Arduino Uno R4 receives feedback instructions through the communication unit and controls one or two adjacent linear resonance actuators (LRA) to vibrate according to the tilt angle in the feedback instructions, creating a funnel illusion virtual tactile point. The user can quickly judge their own posture based on the vibration position and intensity felt at the waist, and react to correct their posture, achieving the effect of balance training.
[0013] In any of the above technical solutions, further, when the communication unit adopts wireless connection, any type of wireless signal transceiver is respectively provided on the detection unit, the control unit and the feedback unit.
[0014] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the Kalman filter adopts a two-stage prediction-update method to fuse the IMU data. The gyroscope provides accurate angular velocity integral prediction in the short term, and the accelerometer provides long-term steady-state gravity direction observation. The Kalman gain dynamically adjusts the weights of the two to suppress the high-frequency noise of the accelerometer and the low-frequency drift of the gyroscope.
[0015] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the pitch angle θ Y and roll angle θ X The calculation formula is:
[0016]
[0017] Among them, a x is the x-axis acceleration, defined as the acceleration in the front-to-back direction in the sensor coordinate system; a y The y-axis acceleration is the left-right acceleration in the sensor coordinate system.
[0018] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the pitch angle θ Y Or roll angle θ X When the value is within ±1°, it is counted as 0°.
[0019] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the tilt intensity is determined according to the pitch angle θ Y Or roll angle θ X The value of is used to judge, including:
[0020] For the pitch angle θ Y : 1-5° is considered mild anteversion, 5-10° is considered moderate anteversion, 10-15° is considered severe anteversion, -1-4° is considered mild posterior, -4-8° is considered moderate posterior, and -8-12° is considered severe posterior;
[0021] For the roll angle θ X : 1~5° is considered as mild right leaning, 5~10° is considered as moderate right leaning, 10~15° is considered as severe right leaning, -1~-5° is considered as mild left leaning, -5~-10° is considered as moderate left leaning, and -10~-15° is considered as severe left leaning.
[0022] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the vibration intensity A of the virtual touch point of the funnel illusion is i and vibration position x i (t) is calculated as follows:
[0023]
[0024] x i (t) = A i sin(2πft);
[0025] Among them, A v represents the target strength of the virtual actuator, j represents the sequence number of the physical actuator relative to the virtual actuator trajectory, and D j is the distance between two physical actuators on the trajectory, d j Indicates the distance from the nearest physical executor to the virtual executor.
[0026] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:
[0027] The technical solution in this invention utilizes the funnel illusion principle and can generate virtual tactile points located between physical vibration points through only four linear resonant actuators, significantly improving the spatial resolution of tactile feedback, enabling users to accurately perceive tiny directional deviations and correct posture more intuitively and effectively.
[0028] Compared with traditional tactile feedback systems that require a large number of actuators and complex layouts, the present invention reduces the amount of physical hardware through virtual tactile point technology, lowers production and maintenance costs, and facilitates large-scale application and popularization. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] The advantages of the above and additional aspects of the present invention will become apparent and readily understood from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0030] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of an overall system of a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] Figure 2 is a system structure diagram of a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0032] Figure 3 2 is a schematic diagram of a wearable device for a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0033] Figure 4 This is a screenshot of the control unit software interface of a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] Figure 5 1 is a schematic diagram of a tilt angle and intensity threshold of a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0035] Figure 6 2 is a schematic diagram of a funnel illusion feedback of a wearable gesture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0036] In order to more clearly understand the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention and the features therein can be combined with each other without conflict.
[0037] In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention may also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.
[0038] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, this embodiment provides a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback. The system can realize dynamic monitoring and precise guidance of human posture on the belt worn by the user, thereby correcting body tilt in real time during movements such as standing or walking to avoid imbalance or falls. The system includes: a detection unit, a control unit, a feedback unit and a communication unit.
[0039] The detection unit and the feedback unit are installed on the same belt. When the user wears the belt, the detection unit and the feedback unit transmit data to the control unit through the communication unit respectively.
[0040] The communication unit is based on a dual serial port design. The one connecting the detection unit and the control unit is responsible for uploading the user's waist precise posture angle and acceleration obtained by the detection unit to the control unit; the one connecting the feedback unit and the control unit is responsible for sending the feedback instructions generated by the control unit to the feedback unit.
[0041] The communication unit can adopt wired connection or wireless connection according to user requirements; when wireless connection is adopted, any type of wireless signal transceiver is respectively set on the detection unit, control unit and feedback unit.
[0042] The detection unit includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that integrates a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis angular velocity meter, as well as a Kalman filter.
[0043] The inertial measurement unit (IMU) is used to collect the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data of the human waist in real time. The collected data is input into the Kalman filter. The Kalman filter algorithm performs real-time fusion and compensation on the original data to eliminate environmental interference and sensor noise. The detection unit sends the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data output by the Kalman filter to the control unit through the communication unit.
[0044] Specifically, the Kalman filter uses a two-stage prediction-update method to fuse IMU data. The gyroscope provides accurate short-term angular velocity integral predictions, and the accelerometer provides long-term steady-state gravity direction observations. The Kalman gain dynamically adjusts the weights of the two, thereby suppressing the high-frequency noise of the accelerometer and correcting the low-frequency drift of the gyroscope, making the attitude angle estimation both fast and stable.
[0045] The control unit (host computer) receives the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data output by the detection unit and converts them into pitch angle (θ Y, AngleY, positive for forward tilt, negative for backward tilt) and roll angle (θ X , AngleX, positive means right leaning, negative means left leaning), such as Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the pitch angle (AngleY) and roll angle (AngleX) are displayed in the supporting software. Pitch angles and roll angles within ±1° are considered to be caused by breathing or slight shaking and are counted as 0°.
[0046] Specifically, the pitch angle θ Y and roll angle θ X The calculation formula is:
[0047]
[0048] Among them, a x is the x-axis acceleration, defined as the acceleration in the front-to-back direction in the sensor coordinate system; a y The y-axis acceleration is the left-right acceleration in the sensor coordinate system.
[0049] like Figure 5 As shown, the control unit determines the current tilt intensity based on the specific values of the pitch angle and roll angle:
[0050] For the pitch angle θ Y : 1~5° is considered as mild forward leaning, 5~10° is considered as moderate forward leaning, 10~15° is considered as severe forward leaning, -1~-4° is considered as mild backward leaning, -4~-8° is considered as moderate backward leaning, and -8~-12° is considered as severe backward leaning.
[0051] For the roll angle θ X : 1~5° is considered as mild right leaning, 5~10° is considered as moderate right leaning, 10~15° is considered as severe right leaning, -1~-5° is considered as mild left leaning, -5~-10° is considered as moderate left leaning, and -10~-15° is considered as severe left leaning.
[0052] The control unit then generates a feedback instruction according to the determined tilt direction and tilt intensity, and the feedback instruction is sent to the feedback unit through the communication unit.
[0053] like Figure 6 As shown, the feedback unit is designed using the funnel illusion principle. The funnel illusion is a classic tactile perception phenomenon. When two or more adjacent locations on the skin are simultaneously stimulated by vibration, the human body will perceive a virtual tactile point located between the stimuli, rather than simply feeling multiple independent stimuli.
[0054] The feedback unit includes a core controller, an Arduino Uno R4, and four linear resonance actuators (LRAs). When the user wears the belt, the four linear resonance actuators (LRAs) are located directly in front, behind, left, and right of the user's waist, respectively.
[0055] The core controller Arduino Uno R4 receives feedback instructions through the communication unit and controls one or two adjacent linear resonant actuators (LRAs) to vibrate according to the tilt angle in the feedback instructions.
[0056] Funnel illusion point vibration intensity A i and vibration position x i The calculation formula of (t) is as follows:
[0057]
[0058] x i (t) = A i sin(2πft);
[0059] Among them, A v represents the target strength of the virtual actuator, j represents the sequence number of the physical actuator relative to the virtual actuator trajectory, and D j is the distance between two physical actuators on the trajectory, d j Indicates the distance from the nearest physical executor to the virtual executor.
[0060] Users can quickly judge their posture based on the vibration position and intensity felt at the waist, and react to correct their posture, achieving the effect of balance training.
[0061] In summary, the present invention provides a wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback, which includes: a detection unit, a control unit, a feedback unit and a communication unit.
[0062] The detection unit and the feedback unit are installed on the same belt. When the user wears the belt, the detection unit and the feedback unit transmit data to the control unit through the communication unit respectively.
[0063] The detection unit includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that integrates a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis angular velocity meter, as well as a Kalman filter.
[0064] The inertial measurement unit (IMU) collects the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data of the human waist in real time and transmits them to the Kalman filter. The Kalman filter denoises the original data and transmits it to the control unit through the communication unit.
[0065] The control unit converts the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data into pitch angle and roll angle, determines the tilt angle and tilt intensity, generates feedback instructions and transmits them to the feedback unit through the communication unit.
[0066] The feedback unit includes a core controller, an Arduino Uno R4, and four linear resonance actuators (LRAs). When the user wears the belt, the four linear resonance actuators (LRAs) are located directly in front, behind, left, and right of the user's waist, respectively.
[0067] The core controller Arduino Uno R4 receives feedback instructions through the communication unit and controls one or two adjacent linear resonance actuators (LRA) to vibrate according to the tilt angle in the feedback instructions, creating a funnel illusion virtual tactile point. The user can quickly judge their own posture based on the vibration position and intensity felt at the waist, and react to correct their posture, achieving the effect of balance training.
[0068] In the present invention, terms such as "installed," "connected," "connected," and "fixed" should be understood broadly. For example, "connected" may refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; and "connected" may refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection via an intermediary. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on specific circumstances.
[0069] The shapes of the various components in the drawings are schematic, and certain differences from their actual shapes are not excluded. The drawings are only used to illustrate the principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.
[0070] Although the present invention has been disclosed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that these descriptions are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the application of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and includes various modifications, variations, and equivalents made to the invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
Claims
1. A wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback, characterized in that: The system includes: a detection unit, a control unit, a feedback unit and a communication unit; The detection unit and the feedback unit are installed on the same belt. When the user wears the belt, the detection unit and the feedback unit respectively transmit data to the control unit through the communication unit. The detection unit includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that integrates a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis angular velocity meter, as well as a Kalman filter; The inertial measurement unit (IMU) collects the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data of the human waist in real time and transmits them to the Kalman filter. The Kalman filter denoises the raw data and transmits it to the control unit through the communication unit. The control unit converts the three-axis acceleration and three-axis angular velocity data into the pitch angle θ Y and roll angle θ X , determining the tilt angle and tilt intensity, generating a feedback instruction and transmitting it to the feedback unit through the communication unit; The feedback unit includes an Arduino Uno R4 core controller and four linear resonance actuators (LRAs). When the user wears the belt, the four linear resonance actuators (LRAs) are located in front, back, left, and right of the user's waist. The core controller Arduino Uno R4 receives feedback instructions through the communication unit and controls one or two adjacent linear resonance actuators (LRA) to vibrate according to the tilt angle in the feedback instructions, creating a funnel illusion virtual tactile point. The user can quickly judge their own posture based on the vibration position and intensity felt at the waist, and react to correct their posture, achieving the effect of balance training.
2. The wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the communication unit adopts wireless connection, any type of wireless signal transceiver is respectively provided on the detection unit, the control unit and the feedback unit.
3. The wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that: The Kalman filter uses a two-stage prediction-update method to fuse IMU data. The gyroscope provides accurate short-term angular velocity integral prediction, and the accelerometer provides long-term steady-state gravity direction observation. The Kalman gain dynamically adjusts the weights of the two to suppress the high-frequency noise of the accelerometer and the low-frequency drift of the gyroscope.
4. The wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pitch angle θ Y and roll angle θ X The calculation formula is: Among them, a x is the x-axis acceleration, defined as the acceleration in the front-to-back direction in the sensor coordinate system; a y The y-axis acceleration is the left-right acceleration in the sensor coordinate system.
5. The wearable posture control system with high-precision real-time tactile feedback according to claim 4, characterized in that: The pitch angle θ Y Or roll angle θ X When the value is within ±1°, it is counted as 0°.
6. The wearable posture control system with high precision and real-time tactile feedback according to claim 5, characterized in that: The tilt intensity is determined by the pitch angle θ Y Or roll angle θ X The value of is used to judge, including: For the pitch angle θ Y : 1-5° is considered mild anteversion, 5-10° is considered moderate anteversion, 10-15° is considered severe anteversion, -1-4° is considered mild posterior, -4-8° is considered moderate posterior, and -8-12° is considered severe posterior; For the roll angle θ X : 1~5° is considered as mild right leaning, 5~10° is considered as moderate right leaning, 10~15° is considered as severe right leaning, -1~-5° is considered as mild left leaning, -5~-10° is considered as moderate left leaning, and -10~-15° is considered as severe left leaning.
7. The wearable posture control system with high precision and real-time tactile feedback according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vibration intensity A of the virtual touch point of the funnel illusion i and vibration position x i (t) is calculated as follows: x i (t)=A i sin(2πft); Among them, A v represents the target strength of the virtual actuator, j represents the sequence number of the physical actuator relative to the virtual actuator trajectory, and D j is the distance between two physical actuators on the trajectory, d j Indicates the distance from the nearest physical executor to the virtual executor.