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A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System

Giovanni Mastrangelo Orcid Logo, Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Orcid Logo, Matteo Russo Orcid Logo, Marco Ceccarelli Orcid Logo, Daniele Cafolla Orcid Logo

Robotics, Volume: 15, Issue: 4, Start page: 76

Swansea University Authors: Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Orcid Logo, Daniele Cafolla Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/robotics15040076

Abstract

This paper presents a low-cost, lightweight wearable sensing module for real-time multi-degree-of-freedom motion analysis, which is validated using ankle movements from a representative case study. The system is based on a compact inertial measurement unit integrated into a custom-made enclosure and...

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Published in: Robotics
ISSN: 2218-6581
Published: MDPI AG 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71757
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last_indexed 2026-05-12T08:38:10Z
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spelling 2026-05-11T12:42:39.1669011 v2 71757 2026-04-17 A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System fab062f51ecae36a295bd5c53e03fef5 0000-0002-6874-2508 Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico true false ac4feae4da44720e216ab2e0359e4ddb 0000-0002-5602-1519 Daniele Cafolla Daniele Cafolla true false 2026-04-17 MACS This paper presents a low-cost, lightweight wearable sensing module for real-time multi-degree-of-freedom motion analysis, which is validated using ankle movements from a representative case study. The system is based on a compact inertial measurement unit integrated into a custom-made enclosure and employs Kalman filter-based sensor fusion to estimate three-dimensional joint orientation. An experimental campaign involving sixteen healthy participants was conducted, and measurements were compared against a gold-standard optical motion capture system, Optitrack V120 Trio. Ankle kinematics were analysed across all anatomical planes, including dorsiflexion/plantarflexion, inversion/eversion, and adduction/abduction. Quantitative metrics, including cosine similarity consistently above 0.98 across all movements and root mean square error within 4° on average, demonstrate strong agreement between the angular measuring device and motion capture data, with errors remaining within clinically acceptable limits. The results confirm the feasibility of the proposed system as a reliable, portable, and affordable alternative to laboratory-based measurement technologies. Beyond ankle assessment, the sensing approach is applicable to a wide range of motion-assistive and rehabilitation systems, supporting continuous monitoring, personalised therapy, and future integration into intelligent wearable devices. Journal Article Robotics 15 4 76 MDPI AG 2218-6581 service robotics; experimental biomechanics; motion monitoring; inertial sensor; motion capture system; motion assistance; wearable sensors 4 4 2026 2026-04-04 10.3390/robotics15040076 COLLEGE NANME Mathematics and Computer Science School COLLEGE CODE MACS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2026-05-11T12:42:39.1669011 2026-04-17T12:02:41.0333082 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Giovanni Mastrangelo 0009-0002-0787-3448 1 Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico 0000-0002-6874-2508 2 Matteo Russo 0000-0002-8825-8983 3 Marco Ceccarelli 0000-0001-9388-4391 4 Daniele Cafolla 0000-0002-5602-1519 5 71757__36696__b73ba75c62514cd2ab10803126ec3aab.pdf 71757.VOR.pdf 2026-05-11T12:38:09.2867609 Output 6328567 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
spellingShingle A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico
Daniele Cafolla
title_short A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
title_full A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
title_fullStr A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
title_full_unstemmed A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
title_sort A Comparative Study of a Real-Time Ankle Mobility Monitoring Wearable System
author_id_str_mv fab062f51ecae36a295bd5c53e03fef5
ac4feae4da44720e216ab2e0359e4ddb
author_id_fullname_str_mv fab062f51ecae36a295bd5c53e03fef5_***_Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico
ac4feae4da44720e216ab2e0359e4ddb_***_Daniele Cafolla
author Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico
Daniele Cafolla
author2 Giovanni Mastrangelo
Betsy Dayana Marcela Chaparro Rico
Matteo Russo
Marco Ceccarelli
Daniele Cafolla
format Journal article
container_title Robotics
container_volume 15
container_issue 4
container_start_page 76
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 2218-6581
doi_str_mv 10.3390/robotics15040076
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This paper presents a low-cost, lightweight wearable sensing module for real-time multi-degree-of-freedom motion analysis, which is validated using ankle movements from a representative case study. The system is based on a compact inertial measurement unit integrated into a custom-made enclosure and employs Kalman filter-based sensor fusion to estimate three-dimensional joint orientation. An experimental campaign involving sixteen healthy participants was conducted, and measurements were compared against a gold-standard optical motion capture system, Optitrack V120 Trio. Ankle kinematics were analysed across all anatomical planes, including dorsiflexion/plantarflexion, inversion/eversion, and adduction/abduction. Quantitative metrics, including cosine similarity consistently above 0.98 across all movements and root mean square error within 4° on average, demonstrate strong agreement between the angular measuring device and motion capture data, with errors remaining within clinically acceptable limits. The results confirm the feasibility of the proposed system as a reliable, portable, and affordable alternative to laboratory-based measurement technologies. Beyond ankle assessment, the sensing approach is applicable to a wide range of motion-assistive and rehabilitation systems, supporting continuous monitoring, personalised therapy, and future integration into intelligent wearable devices.
published_date 2026-04-04T17:20:11Z
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