Development of portable smart shoe for walking monitoring purpose

Walking is one of the most repetitive activities that humans have done throughout their entire life. Each person has a specific pattern of a walking cycle called gait. Analysis on gait is a great topic to study and can be used in many applications such as to assess and improve athletic performance, to identify and correct pathomechanical dysfunctions and to design suitable footwear. Gait analysis is also a helpful tool to indicate health problems by identifying and addressing abnormalities and asymmetries that are often used by clinicians and researchers. This paper studied the development of portable smart shoe that was used to track and monitor walking gait pattern and gait analysis. The system employed a wireless connection and used four force sensors (FSR) that were located inside the insole according to four-point-critical pressure under the feet. Data from sensors were collected by ESP32 and transmitted in real-time through the internet into the online application. The portable smart shoe provided a data Ground reaction Force (GRF) for every gait phase when healthy subject walked at normal walking speed. Gait analysis was done from the collected data by gait phase characterization and comparing the gait pattern with previous studies to ensure the result was reliable. In normal walking conditions, the highest force was found at FSR1 sensor during the loading response phase while FSR 4 sensor provided the lowest force during pre-swing phase. The gait monitoring system is very useful in the rehabilitation field to identify the abnormalities and problems faced by patients.