Gait analysis is the study of human motion using visual observations as well as movement measurements. The driving question for this project was: How can we relate gait frequency to the height of a person? The first step in this project was to collect data on the gait of our group members. We did this by using an accelerometer on our phones which we attached to each person's lower back. We then saved this data to a .CSV file and imported it into google sheets to analyze. In addition, we measured the height of each individual group member as well as their dominant foot. Once we were done gathering all of our data we began to create graphs based off of each individuals data for analysis. Our final product for this project was to make a professional report that explained our finding as well as included a predictive model or equation that could be used to represent the gaits of people in different age groups with already collected data.
Here is our Gait Analysis Report Document:
Here is our Gait Predictive Model Micro Presentation:
Content
Gait: The stride of a human as s/he moves his/her limbs.
Accelerometer: A device that measures the physical acceleration of an object.
Dynamicity: The quantification of variations in kinematic or kinetic parameters within a step.
Metric: An indicator of a characteristic or attribute.
Model: A description of observed or predicted behavior of some system. They allow complex systems to be understood and their behavior predicted.
Symmetry: The quantification of differences between left-foot and right-foot steps.
Variability: The quantification of fluctuations from one stride to the next.
Reflection
I have never thought about the way that I walk or run but I have observed that everyone moves with a slightly different style. Everyone has a very distinct way of walking and running that sometimes isn't even noticeable to the standard viewer. You can recognize certain people by the way they walk but sometimes it can be more challenging. For example it can be easy to identify close friends or family members by the way they walk because you spend a lot of time with them and are around them a lot. Sometimes people have a very distinct way of walking so it can be very easy to identify them. Differences in gaits can help us identify people because they are like a personal identifiers or trademarks unique to individuals.
Although this project was not as fun as the first project we did this year, I believe that it was a good learning experience for me. Before this project I didn't know what gait was or that you could do so much in depth analysis on it. We were in the same groups for this project as we were for the last project so everyone was comfortable around each other and was used to working with one another which made things drastically easier. In the beginning of the project my group and I were a little confused on what we were supposed to be doing, so it took us a little while to get our momentum going. The good thing was that once we had all of our questions clarified we were able to make good progress by working effectively and efficiently. I do believe that my group was at a disadvantage during this project because all of us were selected to work on the OP51 airplane project during the week when the majority of the class was given in class time to work on this project. This problem could have been solved if we had two group members working on the OP51 project while the other two were working on this project, but the decision was not up to us. Since we didn't have the week in class to work on this project, we had to spend time at home working on it which was difficult because we were not able to communicate easily with one another. Everyone in our group had certain after school activities and commitments, not to mention all the other homework and studying we have to do on a regular basis. It is much more effective to work on group projects when all the group members are together.
This project helped me to improve my knowledge and skills at working with spreadsheets. This is important because this is a lifeskill that will come in handy in the future. I also learned how to create different graphs and tables from information uploaded onto a spreadsheet which enabled me to analyze information easier. I worked hard throughout this project and I am satisfied with the result that my group and I produced.