A new circuit for personnel detection using signal scavenging

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Falls are a major healthcare problem for the elderly. To help reduce the bad consequences of a fall in the elderly, our laboratory has developed a personnel detection system to monitor walking activities on the floor by detecting the presence of individuals. Then we can process this data to detect falls. This system consists of the sensor installed the carpet and the electronic board. To improve the overall performance of the system, we wanted to modify the electronic board so that we can reduce the 60 Hz noise picked up from the sensor, enhance the sensor data resolution and increase the reliability of the system. We designed and manufactured new boards by replacing the amplifier with a differential amplifier to reduce the noise. We also added an analog to digital converter to increase the data resolution, and finally, using the wired communication protocol I2C instead of the wireless communication system using Zigbee, to improve the system reliability. Lastly, we tested and showed that the differential amplifier can significantly reduce the 60 Hz noise picked up from the sensor. Also, we achieved a higher sensor data resolution from using the analog to digital converter to convert the analog sensor data to digital representation so that our system has a better sensor data resolution to determine the activation of the sensor. Eventually, the I2C successfully replaced the previous wireless system and gives a higher reliability.