UWB Sensor Nodes for Tracking of Human Motion in Medical and Rehabilitation Applications

This paper presents the experimental and investigational studies involving the use of compact ultra-wideband sensor nodes for tracking the human body motion. A standalone ultra-wideband positioning system developed by making use of commercially available impulse-radio UWB chips has been utilized for the localisation measurements. The operating principles of the technique used for position estimation and the results of various three dimensional localisation measurements undertaken using the system are provided. Details of the transmitter and receiver antennas and the UWB chip, the core components of this system have been discussed. Average localisation accuracy in the range of 1 to 5 cm has been achieved. The system makes use of time difference of arrival approach to estimate the 3D position of the target on-body node.