Pre-Impact Fall Detection for E-Scooter Riding Using an IMU: Threshold-Based, Supervised, and Unsupervised Approaches

Pre-impact fall detection during e-scooter riding is essential for rider safety. Both threshold-based and deep learning algorithms (supervised and unsupervised models) were developed in this study. Twenty participants performed normal driving maneuvers such as straight driving, speed bumps, clockwise roundabouts, and counterclockwise roundabouts, along with falls (abnormal driving maneuvers). A 6-axis IMU sensor (Xsens DOT, The Netherlands) was positioned at the T7 location to record data at 60 Hz. The approaches included threshold-based, supervised learning, and unsupervised learning models The threshold-based approach yielded an accuracy of 98.86% with an F1 score of 0.99, while the supervised model had a slightly lower performance, reaching 86.29% accuracy and an F1 score of 0.56. The unsupervised knowledge distillation model achieved 98.86% accuracy, an F1 score of 0.99, and a memory size of only 46 kB. All models demonstrated lead times of more than 250 ms, sufficient for airbag deployment.