Three-dimensional global acceleration estimation in the presence of rotation using an inertial measurement unit for whole-body vibration studies

Off-road vehicle operators are likely exposed to not only a high level but also different types of whole-body vibration (WBV) such as significant non-vertical and/or rotational accelerations. To evaluate the effects of these different WBV exposures, it is necessary to first correctly estimate the acceleration of the vehicle considering not only translational but also rotational motion. The main objective of this study was to propose and evaluate an algorithm to accurately estimate global acceleration of a vehicle using magnitude-based filtering and inertial navigation with an inertial measurement unit. In a laboratory experiment where a 6-df robotic arm generated three-dimensional motion at three different frequencies (2.3, 4.5 and 8.5 Hz), local acceleration data were collected in the presence of rotational movements. The comparison of the calculated global acceleration to the reference data show that the algorithm provides a good estimation of global acceleration even when rotational movement is not negligible.