System and method for measuring movement of objects

A system for measuring the speed of a runner, said system comprising:

• an accelerometer unit disposed in a shoe of said runner, said accelerometer unit containing a plurality of accelerometers configured to measure the acceleration associated with the movement of said shoe along a translational coordinate defined by the movement of said shoe, said accelerometers further configured to generate acceleration signals corresponding to said measured accelerations;
• a rotational sensor unit disposed in said shoe, said rotational sensor unit containing a plurality of rotational sensors configured so as to provide angular signals corresponding to the angle of rotation of said shoe about each one of said translational coordinates;
• a first calculator unit coupled to said accelerometer unit and said rotational sensor unit configured so as to receive said acceleration signals and said angular signals, said calculator adapted to measure the instantaneous accelerations of said shoe with respect to a reference coordinate defined by said shoe while in contact with a surface;
• a second calculator unit coupled to said first calculator unit configured so as to receive said instantaneous accelerations, said second calculator adapted to measure the length of each step and the height jumped by said person.

A method for measuring the distance traveled by a runner comprising the steps of:

• measuring the acceleration associated with the movement of a shoe of said runner along a translational coordinate defined by the movement of said shoe;
• measuring the angle of rotation of said shoe about each one of said translational coordinates;
• calculating instantaneous accelerations of said shoe with respect to a reference coordinate defined by said shoe while in contact with a surface;
• and
• calculating the length of each step and the height jumped by said person in accordance with said calculated instantaneous accelerations.