Int J Interact Des Manuf (2018) 12:173–177
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-016-0346-z
SHORT ORIGINAL PAPER
Design and implementation of a high-resolution angle
measurement system for the upper limbs using a low-cost
servomotor
J.-S. Botero Valencia1 · J.-P. Restrepo Zapata1 · M.-T. De Ossa Jimenez2
Received: 28 June 2016 / Accepted: 25 July 2016 / Published online: 30 July 2016
© Springer-Verlag France 2016
Abstract The study of biomechanics of the human body
is of great importance in many areas such as rehabilitation,
sports, military industry, in the design and manufacture of
prosthetics and orthotics, in creating man-machine inter-
faces, etc. Therefore, we present the technology and the
design of a portable angular measurement device with high
resolution and low costs, for position, velocity, acceleration,
repetitions per time unit, delay and amplitude of the move-
ment for the arm and the forearm. This device is based on
an embedded servo motor with an encoder with a resolution
of 0.088 degrees, making it much more accurate than sim-
ilar devices created for this type of research. The physical
dimensions of the device and its low weight make it a useful
tool. Among the design parameters the low cost and ease in
construction was considered in a way that the device is easy
to replicate. Information obtained by this device allows ana-
lyzing the movement of the arm and the forearm, and with
this detecting or diagnosing symptoms of health problems,
progress in fitness and the creation of man-machine inter-
faces for interaction with virtual environments.
Keywords Exoskeleton · Angle measurement ·
Wearable robot · Digital goniometer
B J.-S. Botero Valencia
juanbotero@itm.edu.co
J.-P. Restrepo Zapata
juliorestrepo77227@correo.itm.edu.co
M.-T. De Ossa Jimenez
mariadeossa@itm.edu.co
1 Facultad de Ingenierías, Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano
ITM, Grupo AEyCC, Antioquia, Colombia
2 Facultad de Ciencias Básicas Aplicadas, Instituto Tecnológico
Metropolitano ITM, Grupo GI2B, Antioquia, Colombia
1 Introduction
Biomechanical studies of the human body are of great impor-
tance because they are used in sport science, military industry,
rehabilitation, design of prosthetics and orthotics, etc. as
[5,8,11,16,19]. For this reason, areas of research seeking
information that can be used to collect data from physical
activity or to feedback control systems have been developed
frequently as [7,13]. In a similar study of the biomechani-
cal analysis of the elbow [3] to the one presented here, an
absolute encoder AS5040 from Austria Microsystems that
has a resolution of 0.35 and a microcontroller was used.
Measurements of the angular position of the knee and the sys-
tem reliability were made using a goniometer and comparing
with records of motion analysis. For information processing
a Matlab-based interface was used. Similarly to that, in [21]
the motion of the human forearm is captured using a system
based on the magnetic linear encoder system AS5040. There
are different techniques that seek to detect, estimate or mea-
sure the position of the joints; such as in [1,4,6,14], where the
kinematic models and methods to continuously assess the ori-
entation angles of the shoulder and elbow are used employing
Inertial Measurement units (IMU) and Kalman filters. These
measurements were compared to those obtained by an opti-
cal tracking system that showed that the error was less than 8.
Similar work is presented in [12,20]. This technique requires
the implementation of devices that increase the manufactur-
ing cost of the system and due to the mentioned error the use
for special applications that require precision is restricted.
Using a bio-inspired algorithm, Cordella et al. [2] provides
a method of predicting position and path planning applied to
a robotic hand ,similarly to [15]. In [9,19] a method, which
estimates the orientation angle of the elbow through elec-
tromyographic signals obtained from biceps and triceps, is
presented. But in this case further information processing is
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required with the resulting of higher computational cost. For

rehabilitation tasks it is important to use systems that reduce
the cost of implementation of the same, as in [17,18] where
a comparative study of electromyographic biofeedback ther-
apy and conventional therapy through motion of the joint
was conducted. The research evidenced similar results in the
recovery of patients under both techniques for the elbow,
but devices for electromyographic feedback therapy are still
very expensive, while the manufacture of a device for motion
therapy is considerably cheaper.
In this paper, a high resolution and low-cost electro-
mechanical angular measuring system is presented, for
biomechanical analysis of the elbow based on an embed-
ded servomotor that is not used as an actuator, but as an
angular positioning sensor. A mechanical system that is
adjustable to the human arm has been developed using parts
designed and printed in 3D and tools were developed to trans-
late the position information for biomechanical assessments.
The complete system can measure different variables such
as position, velocity, acceleration, repetitions per time unit,
delay in moving, and amplitude. It is noteworthy that all
hardware elements used in the development of this project
are inexpensive; and to facilitate the use by other people the
mechanical parts were designed in a way that makes them
easily adaptable (in dimension). Finally, the electromechan-
ical system presented in this paper has the capacity to adapt
Fig. 1 Arm model
and the information it provides allows giving objectivity to
biomechanical elbow, as well as allowing traceability of the
healing progress of injuries. Such initiatives aim to develop 2.2 Servomotor
devices and services that can be offered at a lower cost to the
community, in general giving the possibility of using reha- The MX-12W is a high precision servomotor with the abil-
bilitation support equipment at home. ity to measure positioning, torque, internal temperature and
engine speed. It will be used to detect the angular position in
the same way as with a digital goniometer and will also be
used to measure the speed. MX-12W was selected due to its
2 System description hardware, since its weight and size is useful in a system that
will be used for measuring biomechanical signals. Although
2.1 Design criteria and biomechanical analysis it is a non-invasive method, the individual will have to wear
the electromechanical system like a garment. It has a posi-
For coupling the biomechanical system with the human body tioning resolution of 0.088◦ , which enables high-precision
the anthropometric dimensions of the human arm were con- measurements with an input range of 0◦ –360◦ and an output
sidered and the virtual model in Fig. 1 was generated using the of 12 bits. It has a span of 360◦ , which is more than suffi-
free software based on Python MakerHuman. Subsequently, cient for the required measurement, given that the angular
the respective adjustments were made to the kinematics of movement of the elbow is not more than 150◦ according to
the elbow to carry out the simulation, where the adaptability [10].
of the system was verified to a certain size and in different
positions. Owing to the adjustment points located in the con-
nection area of the arm and forearm—taking into account 2.3 Electromechanical system and control
that the rotation axis of this system is located on the rotation
axis of the elbow—the device has displacement guides and For the correct measurement of the angular position, five
quick connection points fastened by 2 mm diameter screws pieces were used that were designed with CAD software and
as shown in Fig. 2a for easy adjustment to different arm molded using a DREMEL 3D printer from Robert Bosch
sizes. Tool Corporation. These pieces give rigidity to the struc-

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Fig. 3 Prototype system

3.2 Data acquisition

Figure 4 shows the acquisition of the elbow movement in

Fig. 2 a Arm piece and forearm piece. b Arm piece with the embedded
system
several repetitions and three speeds from the same person.
An external LED was used to indicate the time each flex-
ion took, that is to say 1 (Fast), 3 (Normal), and 4 (Slow)
s, respectively. It was observed that the data acquired by the
system allows deriving relevant information for biomechan-
ical analysis, such as the number of repetitions per minute,
the speed of the movement of flexion and extension, and the
continuity in the movement. This data is useful in the devel-
opment of physiotherapy aimed at rehabilitation or analysis
of performance increase in spots activities, because it allows
traceability in the time and in the development of the activity,
and eliminates the need for supervision.
A comparison of the angular position of arm and fore-
arm in three different individuals is shown in Fig. 5. It

ture allowing the servomotor to rotate regarding the degree

of freedom of the elbow and allowing the mechanism being
adjusted for different sizes of arm and forearm. The pieces
shown in Fig. 2a are linked through the servomotor and
they will also be fixed with screws to two plaster casts that
are located directly to the arm and forearm, respectively.
Furthermore, the embedded system of the servomotor, the
OPEN CM09.04, which processes the information, is used
for receiving data. Figure 2b show the complete electro-
mechanical system, which has not yet been attached to the
Fig. 4 Acquired position for a test subject
connecting elements of the arm and forearm. To control the
servomotor a brief treatment of the signal, which is already
integrated, is required.

3 Results

3.1 Control

Figure 3 shows the prototype system, which will monitor the

angular displacement. In this case, it was set to be placed on
a healthy person measuring 1.75 m in height. Fig. 5 Acquired position for three test subject

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cations, as well as an alternative to conventional methods

for acquisition of biomechanical variables that use expen-
sive systems with displacement limitations.

Acknowledgements This work is part of the project “Development of

an inertial measurement to obtain and record biomechanical variables
in athletes” with ID 1102-626-38784, of the Automática, Electrónica y
Ciencias Computacionales Group COL0053581 attached to the Instituto
Tecnológico Metropolitano and co-financed by the Liga de Natación de
Antioquia and Fundación Universitaria Luis Amigó.

Fig. 6 Reaction time for one test subject

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