IMU system for assessing head and torso orientation during physical motion

A method for athlete development, coaching, or training using real time monitoring of the head and cervical spine orientation of an athlete during physical motion on a field of play, said method comprising:

• employing at least two inertial measurement units each measuring three degrees of freedom of angular velocity and three degrees of freedom of acceleration and outputting acceleration data and angular rate gyro data, a first of the at least two inertial measurement units being temporally synchronized with a second of the at least two inertial measurement units such that the acceleration data and angular rate gyro data from the first inertial measurement unit and the second inertial measurement unit are temporally synchronized;
• affixing the first inertial measurement unit to the head of the athlete for movement therewith;
• affixing the second inertial measurement unit to the torso of the athlete within a cervical spine region for movement therewith;
• calculating the real time orientation of the head, the real time orientation of the cervical spine, and the real time orientation of the head relative to the cervical spine in response to the acceleration data and the angular rate gyro data from the first and second inertial measurement units during the physical motion on the field of play and outputting resultant real time data;
• and
• receiving the resultant real time data by a host device and outputting a response to a user on the host device indicative of the real time orientation of the head and the orientation of the cervical spine of the athlete on the field of play, using the response on the host device for athlete development, coaching, or training.

A method for athlete development, coaching, or training using real time monitoring of the head and cervical spine orientation of a plurality of athletes during physical motion on a field of play, said method comprising:

• employing at least two inertial measurement units for each of the plurality of athletes, each of the inertial measurement units measuring three degrees of freedom of angular velocity and three degrees of freedom of acceleration and outputting acceleration data and angular rate gyro data, a first of the at least two inertial measurement units being temporally synchronized with a second of the at least two inertial measurement units such that the acceleration data and angular rate gyro data from the first inertial measurement unit and the second inertial measurement unit are temporally synchronized;
• affixing the first inertial measurement unit to the head of each of the plurality of athletes for movement therewith;
• affixing the second inertial measurement unit to the torso of each of the plurality of athletes within a cervical spine region for movement therewith;
• calculating the real time orientation of the head, the real time orientation of the cervical spine, and the real time orientation of the head relative to the cervical spine of each of the plurality of athletes in response to the acceleration data and the angular rate gyro data from the first and second inertial measurement units during the physical motion on the field of play and outputting resultant real time data for each of the plurality of athletes;
• and
• receiving the resultant real time data for each of the plurality of athletes by a host device and outputting a response to a user on the host device indicative of at least one of the real time orientation of the head, the real time orientation of the cervical spine, and the real time orientation of the head relative to the cervical spine of each of the plurality of athletes on the field of play, using the response on the host device for athlete development, coaching, or training.