Accuracy of the Orientation Estimate Obtained Using Four Sensor Fusion Filters Applied to Recordings of Magneto-Inertial Sensors Moving at Three Rotation Rates
Abstract Magneto-Inertial technology is a well-established alternative to optical motion capture for human. motion analysis applications since it allows prolonged monitoring in free-living conditions. Magneto and Inertial Measurement Units (MIMUs) integrate a triaxial accelerometer, a triaxial gyroscope and a triaxial magnetometer in a single and lightweight device. The orientation of the body to which a MIMU is attached can be obtained by combining its sensor readings within a sensor fusion framework. Despite several sensor fusion implementations have been proposed, no well-established conclusion about the accuracy level achievable with MIMUs has been reached yet. The aim of this preliminary study was to perform a direct comparison among four popular sensor fusion algorithms applied to the recordings of MIMUs rotating at three different rotation rates, with the orientation provided by a stereophotogrammetric system used as a reference. A procedure for suboptimal determination of the parameter filter values was also proposed. The findings highlighted that all filters exhibited reasonable accuracy (rms errors < 6.4°). Moreover, in accordance with previous studies, every algorithm's accuracy worsened as the rotation rate increased. At the highest rotation rate, the algorithm from Sabatini (2011) showed the best performance with errors smaller than 4.1° rms. This work was supported by the Mobilise-D project, that has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 820820. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Content in this publication reflects the authors' view and neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.