Human Gait Tracking for Normal People and Walker Users Using a 2D LiDAR

This paper proposes a human gait tracking method using a low scanning rate (10Hz) 360 degree 2D LiDAR. The sensor is placed at a height of 0.3m above the ground. Since the human gait tracking is important not only for normal people but also for patients who need to use walking-aid such as walker, we propose a tracking method for both normal people and walker users. The left and right legs are separated and tracked even with nonlinear walking path. To overcome the occlusions between legs when one leg might be hidden from the sensor, a spline-based smooth and interpolation method is applied to estimate the legs trajectories. An algorithm is also proposed to remove the walker legs data in case of walker users. The performance of proposed tracking method is investigated in different walking speed levels and two positions of LiDAR (parallel and horizontal to walking direction). The experimental results verify the robustness of our proposed method. The horizontal position of LiDAR gives better estimation than the parallel position. The RMSE is less than 2.0cm for walking step length estimation and is less than 1.4cm for walking distance estimation. The tracking range of our system is up to 10m with horizontal placement of LiDAR.