Joint motion sensing to make a determination of a positional change of an individual

1. An apparatus, comprising:

multiple sensors that produce multiple signals based on motions of a plurality of locations on an individual; and

one or more processing components that employ one or more of the multiple signals to make a determination of respective positional changes of the plurality of locations on the individual,

wherein the multiple sensors are adapted to be in contact with the plurality of locations on the individual,

wherein the multiple sensors produce signals for the one or more processing components to measure three dimensional motion respectively of the plurality of locations on the individual,

wherein the motions are measured and reconstructed from a known starting location and recorded position information to determine anthropometric dead reckoning of the individual to thereby construct a path traversed by the individual, and

wherein the multiple sensors are integrated into a suit wearable by the individual.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the multiple sensors comprise multiple strain sensors.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 ,

wherein the multiple strain sensors comprise at least one strain sensor adjacent to a joint of the individual, and

wherein the at least one strain sensor experiences a strain in response to a joint motion of the joint of the multiple joint motions; and

wherein the at least one strain sensor represents the strain as strain information in a signal of the multiple signals; and

wherein one or more of the one or more processing components translates the strain information into the positional change of the individual.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 ,

wherein a strain sensor of the multiple strain sensors detects a bending of a joint of the individual, and

wherein the strain sensor represents the bending as strain information in a signal of the multiple signals; and

wherein one or more of the one or more processing components employ the strain information to make a determination of a displacement of the positional change of the individual.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 ,

wherein a strain sensor of the multiple strain sensors detects a twisting of a joint of the individual, and

wherein the strain sensor represents the twisting as strain information in a signal of the multiple signals; and

wherein one or more of the one or more processing components employs the strain information to make a determination of a direction of the positional change of the individual.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 ,

wherein a first strain sensor of the multiple strain sensors detects a bending of a first joint of the individual, and

wherein the first strain sensor represents the bending as first strain information in a first signal of the multiple signals; and

wherein one or more of the one or more processing components employ the first strain information to make a determination of a displacement of the positional change of the individual; and

wherein a second strain sensor of the multiple strain sensors detects a twisting of a second joint of the individual, and

wherein the second strain sensor represents the twisting as second strain information in a second signal of the multiple signals; and

wherein one or more of the one or more processing components employ the second strain information to make a determination of a direction of the positional change of the individual; and

wherein one or more of the one or more processing components employ the displacement of the positional change, the direction of the positional change, and the known starting location of the individual to make a determination of an updated position of the individual.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising

a filter component that weighs and combines:

the positional change determined by the one or more processing components based on the multiple joint motions of the individual; and

position information from one or more supplementary navigation components.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 ,

wherein the supplementary navigation components comprise one or more of a global positioning system (“GPS”) and an inertial navigation system (“INS”); and

wherein the filter component weighs and combines position information from the one or more processing components and the supplementary navigation components based on a relative reliability of the one or more processing components and the supplementary navigation components.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the one or more processing components receive position correction information of the individual from one or more supplementary navigation components.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the one or more processing components provide initial position information of the individual to one or more supplementary navigation components upon initialization of the one or more supplementary navigation components.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the multiple sensors are located in the suit at positions that are adjacent to multiple joints of the individual.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising

a magnetic heading sensor that provides direction information to one or more of the one or more processing components,

wherein the direction information of the magnetic heading sensor supplements the positional change determined by the one or more processing components; and

wherein the magnetic heading sensor employs the Earth's magnetic field to make a determination of a direction of the positional change of the individual.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising

a barometric altitude sensor that provides altitude information to one or more of the one or more processing components,

wherein the altitude information of the barometric altitude sensor supplements the positional change determined by the one or more processing components; and

wherein the barometric altitude sensor measures an atmospheric pressure to make a determination of an altitude change of the positional change of the individual.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the multiple sensors and the one or more processing components are calibrated to the individual by having the individual traverse a known path to monitor how multiple joint motions of the individual respond to the known path.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the one or more processing components calculate an updated position of the individual based on the known starting location and the positional change of the individual; and

wherein the one or more processing components send the updated position of the individual to one or more of a display component and a recording component.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the multiple sensors comprise multiple rate sensors.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising

one or more supplementary navigation components,

wherein one or more of the one or more supplementary navigation components are integrated into a shoe worn by the individual;

wherein the one or more of the one or more supplementary navigation components initiate one or more zero velocity updates at a time when the shoe worn by the individual is substantially stationary.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the multiple sensors are arranged bi-laterally on the individual.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

multiple sensors that produce multiple signals based on motions of an individual;

at least one processing component that employs respective multiple signals to make a determination of respective positional changes of a plurality of locations on the individual,

wherein the multiple sensors are in contact with the plurality of locations on the individual,

wherein the multiple sensors produce signals for the at least one processing component to measure three dimensional motion respectively of the plurality of locations on the individual, and

wherein the motions are measured and reconstructed from a known starting location and recorded position information to determine anthropometric dead reckoning of the individual; and

data indicative of the measured and reconstructed motions,

wherein the data is fed back to the individual and wherein the data is fed back to at least one of the sensors on the individual.