This paper presents a development of the smart garment instrumented with polymer optical fiber (POF) sensors to identify the impact location during a perturbation protocol for balance assessment. The sensor system installed on the smart garment consists of 30 multiplexed sensors, and each sensor is composed of a light-emitting diode (LED) coupled to a lateral cut in the POF. The sensor's responses are acquired by four photodetectors and the data processing is made by a microcontroller. Two tests were performed to characterize the system. First, forces were applied on each sensor using a reference force sensor to characterize their sensitivities. Second, several perturbations on predefined body areas were performed. A technique based on the sensors' responses is proposed to identify impacts. Finally, the proposed system was applied on a perturbation protocol to assess the human balance under an instability condition. Results of the first test showed different sensor sensitivities due to differences provoked by the manufacturing process, and the sensors were normalized. Results of the second test showed the ability of identifying the impact region by using the impact location identification technique. Furthermore, results of the perturbation protocol showed the feasibility of the proposed system in the balance assessment, in which the identified impact regions combined with the trunk angles obtained by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) improved the balance assessment. The proposed system is portable, low cost, with simple signal processing and ease of implementation, with possibility of scalability, in which can be adapted for other impact detection protocols.

中文翻译：

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基于聚合物光纤的智能服装，用于影响识别和平衡评估


本文介绍了一种配备聚合物光纤 (POF) 传感器的智能服装的开发成果，用于在平衡评估的扰动协议期间识别撞击位置。安装在智能服装上的传感器系统由 30 个多路复用传感器组成，每个传感器均由耦合到 POF 横向切口的发光二极管 (LED) 组成。传感器的响应由四个光电探测器获取，数据处理由微控制器进行。进行了两次测试来表征系统。首先，使用参考力传感器对每个传感器施加力来表征其灵敏度。其次，对预定的身体区域进行了几次扰动。提出了一种基于传感器响应的技术来识别影响。最后，所提出的系统应用于扰动协议来评估不稳定条件下的人体平衡。第一次测试的结果显示，由于制造工艺引起的差异，传感器的灵敏度有所不同，并对传感器进行了标准化。第二次测试的结果显示了利用撞击位置识别技术识别撞击区域的能力。此外，扰动协议的结果表明了所提出的系统在平衡评估中的可行性，其中识别的撞击区域与惯性测量单元（IMU）获得的躯干角度相结合改进了平衡评估。所提出的系统是便携式的、低成本的、具有简单的信号处理和易于实施的、具有可扩展性的可能性，其中可以适用于其他影响检测协议。