By Kyle Hammer, Rachel Houlihan, Justin Keizer, and Marilynn Hunt
The purpose of the gait analysis was to learn how people's walks are different and to see if we could predict height based on our data. In order to be able to predict height we created a predictive model. We collected data with an accelerometer from three subjects: Kyle, Justin, and Natalie. Their heights were 5'10", 5'9", and 4'10" respectively. With this information we created acceleration graphs for each person that we studied and looked for common trends and differences on. We decided to find the frequency of each person's gait so that we could create our predictive model. Once we had the frequency we plotted it on a frequency by height graph and created a trendline that can predict height based on frequency.
Concepts
- Acceleration: the rate of change of velocity of an object by time (We created acceleration graphs with our data.)
- Accelerometer: a tool that measures the physical acceleration experienced on an object (We used the accelerometer to collect data.)
- Dynamicity: for gait, the measurement of variations in kinematic or kinetic parameters within a step (This helped us understand gait.)
- Gait: the stride of a human as they move their limbs (The project was analyzing gait.)
- G-force: a from of acceleration that causes an object to feel a force opposite to the acceleration (The accelerometer measured in g-force.)
- Model: a description of observed or predicted behavior of some system, simplified by ignoring certain details (We made models from all of our data.)
- Variability: for gait, the measurement of fluctuations from one stride to the next (We observed this in our data.)
Reflection
The gait analysis proved to be a difficult feat. We had a lot of time for the project, but we did not truly understand the assignment until the last week. Additionally, most of our group was working on another project for part of the gait analysis which made it difficult. Two things that I could have improved were procrastination and motivation. I did not understand the project very well, so I was not very motivated to work on the project. I should have researched and asked more questions so I would not have been confused. This also caused me to procrastinate and not put the gait analysis at the top of my list of priorities; we waited until the end to complete most of our project. Something I learned was how to communicate really well with my group mates. Since we were not working on the same project at the same time, we had to communicate clearly so that everyone understood their responsibilities regarding the gait analysis. Our group worked well together and managed to complete everything on time. If we redid the gait analysis, I would want to learn how to calculate other factors like leg length or weight.