Design and implementation of a low-cost mechatronic shoe for biomechanical analysis of the human locomotion

In this paper the development of a low-cost and easy wearable mechatronic system for the measurement of ground reaction forces (GRF) for the biomechanical analysis of the human locomotion is presented. The system consists of an insole, a conditioning device for the signals produced by the sensors applied to the insole and a data acquisition system connected to a USB portable storage. The sensors applied to the insole can measure the reaction forces in the horizontal and vertical directions during locomotion. The prototype was validated by comparing the data from the sensors with the values obtained using a force platform.