ZigBee-based wireless multi-sensor system for physical activity assessment

Physical activity (PA) is important for assessing human exposure to the environment. This paper presents a ZigBee-based Wireless wearable multi-sensor Integrated Measurement System (WIMS) for in-situ PA measurement. Two accelerometers, a piezoelectric displacement sensor, and an ultraviolet (UV) sensor have been used for the physical activity assessment. Detailed analysis was performed for the hardware design and embedded program control, enabling efficient data sampling and transmission, compact design, and extended battery life to meet requirements for PA assessment under free-living conditions. Preliminary testing of the WIMS has demonstrated the functionality of the design, while performance comparison of the WIMS with a wired version on an electromagnetic shaker has demonstrated the signal validity.