Fancy Pants May Prevent Falls
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 17:07
in Physics & Chemistry
A team of engineers at Virginia Tech University has designed a pair of pants that may identify people who have a high risk of falling. Several small circuit boards containing microcontrollers, sensors, and communication devices -- called e-TAGS -- are embedded in the pants at the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Each foot has a piezoelectric sensor—a sensor that generates an electric pulse through applied stress—at the heel that is connected to an e-TAG in the pants. The whole setup is powered by a nine-volt battery attached near the waist. read more