Designing a Low-Cost Force Plate for Postural Assessment

The purpose of this study was to develop a pair of single-pedestal types with a low-cost and user-friendly force plate for assessing ground reaction force (GRF), center of pressure (COP), and plantar pressure distribution (PPD). These parameters are crucial for assessing human movement and maintaining body balance. The load cells were tested with standard weights of 5, 10, 15, and 20 kg. Using linear regression, the analysis showed a strong linear relationship between the load cell output and the standard weight, with an R-squared value of 0.99. Furthermore, the error margin was determined to be less than +/- 5%. In the initial equipment assessment, a healthy female was evaluated the posture under both eye-open and eye-closed conditions through three sets of measurements. The results showed about a two-fold change in the COP parameter, possibly due to swaying when the eyes were closed. Additionally, the PPD parameter revealed varying foot weight distribution levels, even though the GRF values were almost the same. The equipment's graphic user interface (GUI) provides real-time graphical representations for GRF, COP, and PPD, aiding in training effectiveness for enhancing postural assessment under professional guidance. In future studies, we plan to use the developed equipment to observe its effectiveness by measuring a larger and more diverse population.