Using Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) in Performance and Behavioural Analysis

Classically, Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) are composed of a 3D accelerometer, a 3D gyroscope, and a 3D magnetometer. Taken into isolation, those electronical devices offer the opportunity to propose an embedded follow-up of the athlete in his/her daily activities to extract kinematical parameters related to performance. Moreover, when the signals are combined by data fusion, the possibilities are even wider, with—in particular—the ability to account for the kinematics of the movement, and by extension the coordination of the athletes’ segments, when several IMUs are used in synchronization. This section reviews several possibilities to properly use IMUs from data collection to data treatment in an objective of studying motion analysis, especially applied to sport performance.