Automated detection and classification of construction workers' loss of balance events using wearable insole pressure sensors

Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari, Heng Li, JoonOh Seo*, Arnold Yu Lok Wong

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Fall on the same level is the leading cause of non-fatal injuries in construction workers; however, identifying loss of balance events associated with specific unsafe surface conditions in a timely manner remain challenging. The objective of the current study was to develop a novel method to detect and classify loss of balance events that could lead to falls on the same level by using foot plantar pressure distributions data captured from wearable insole pressure sensors. Ten healthy volunteers participated in experimental trials, simulating four major loss of balance events (e.g., slip, trip, unexpected step-down, and twisted ankle) to collect foot plantar pressure distributions data. Supervised machine learning algorithms were used to learn the unique foot plantar pressure patterns, and then to automatically detect loss of balance events. We compared classification performance by varying window sizes, feature groups and types of classifiers, and the best classification accuracy (97.1%) was achieved when using the Random Forest classifier with all feature groups and a window size of 0.32 s. This study is important to researchers and site managers because it uses foot plantar pressure distribution data to objectively distinguish various potential loss of balance events associated with specific unsafe surface conditions. The proposed approach can allow practitioners to proactively conduct automated fall risk monitoring to minimize the risk of falls on the same level on sites.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-199
Number of pages11
JournalAutomation in Construction
Volume96
Early online date28 Sept 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2018

Keywords

  • Construction workers
  • Falls on the same level
  • Insole pressure sensors
  • Loss of balance
  • Supervised machine learning

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