The Design and Application of Infrared Pedometer

Abstract

Nowadays, our country's economy is developing rapidly, and a lot of people have improved their standard of living, especially citizens living in city centers. More and more people are paying attention to heath rather than money. Walking, the most convenience means of exercise is getting more and more popular. But, how do we determine the number of kilometers should we walk each day, and how many calories should we consume per hour. All of us should find a balance between time, energy and health. So, this situation has created a demand for technology of the pedometer. Recently, a variety of pedometers have appeared on the market. Most of them are designed with important components called acceleration transducer. However, in some cases such as running to fast or going upstairs, it will make some errors when counting the number of the steps. In order to improve the weakness of the pedometer with acceleration transducer, we tried to design new kind of pedometer based on infrared technology. By observing the walking process of more than 300 people, we found that the most obvious changes happen at the feet. We decided to focus on this aspect of motion to design the infrared pedometer. The basic principle of our design is just like the infrared counter.