Study on the Relationship between Stair´s Slope and Upward/Downward Gaits in Stairs

In this study, we try to find a method to investigate the relationship between stair´s slope and ascent/descent gaits in stairs. With the method, we can speculate the stair slope of a particular stair from a subject´s gait so that we can use it to be an initial parameter for estimating the vertical distance the subject has climbed. In this way, this study could provide a practical method to realize the calorie consumption of daily life for persons who are intended to increase calorie consumption through climbing stairs. To speculate the stair slope of a particular stair, we need to collect, analyze, and compare signals from ascent/descent gaits on stairs with normal gaits from flat ground. In our investigation, we develop a novel device called activity monitoring unit (AMU), which is equipped with a tri-axial accelerometer and includes some signal analytical and processing schemes, to identify an estimated stair slope. To assure the effectiveness of our study, we recruit 50 subjects and select three stairs in our campus to conduct a few experiments. From the results of the experiments, the accuracy of our study reaches to 92.67% in the experiments.