A flexible embedded hardware platform supporting low-cost human pose estimation

Throughout the last decades, human motion capture systems have become an important tool for various sectors. Besides the entertainment sector, which is probably the most known sector to use these systems through popular movies and video games, the medical sector has adopted this technology as an analysis tool. These clinical analyses measure the human body posture and movement for various purposes including rehabilitation and sports, and require high accuracy and precision. Although there is a variety of products that offer these capabilities, there is not yet an affordable system that meets the requirements for medical implementations. We therefore propose using an ultrasonic six degrees-of-freedom sensor system which combines a distributed array of ultrasonic emitters and a small array of ultrasonic receivers. In order to support low-cost human pose estimation, while retaining the possibility for re-use and expandability, the need for a flexible embedded hardware platform naturally emerged. The proposed hardware design supports the requirements of a high accuracy and high precision pose estimation system while keeping its overall system cost low.