Pressure sensing system to the final of Swedish Embedded Award
On Wednesday, STC researchers Johan Sidén and Jawad Ahmad went to Stockholm to present their contribution to the Swedish Embedded Award. Together with the partner company Permobil they have developed a pressure sensor system that register how the pressure is on a chair cushion and can alarm when too long and unilateral pressure accrues.
See all contributions to Swedish Embedded Award
Introduction
This work addresses a pressure sensing system for wheelchair seats with the overall objective of preventing pressure ulcer. The system uses low-cost printed electronics to extract pressure distribution of a seated person. The data is used in a sitting posture recognition algorithm that for example can be used to encourage the person to change position.
Key Design Features
• Applicable for large areas
• Relatively high accuracy
• Cost reduction
• Fast manufacturing
• Measurement scalability
• Comfort for users
• Real-time data presentation of pressure points
• 16 dedicated ADC channels in read-out circuit
• A scanning rate of 77 Hz for data presentation
• Wireless data transmission.
• Data storage
• Sitting posture recognition algorithm
• Capable of taking actions based on sitting time
Target Groups
• Physically impaired persons
• People sitting in office chairs for longer periods
• Long route drivers
• Programmers and gamers
Results
• Cost efficient
• Thin and flexible
• Easy to implement
• Integration of multiple sensors
• Robust and a good lifetime
Conclusion
• Achieved posture recognition accuracy above 86 %
• Stable and robust
• Suitable for monitoring of pressure data and its runtime presentation
