Fall Detection Wearable Device for Elderly and Patients

Problem statement

Elderly individuals and certain patients are at high risk of falling. If a fall happens when they are alone, help may be delayed, leading to serious injury or even death. A small, always-on wearable device that automatically detects falls and alerts caregivers can significantly improve safety and response time.

Abstract

This project develops a compact wearable fall detection device using an accelerometer/gyroscope IMU sensor and a microcontroller with wireless connectivity. The device monitors acceleration and orientation patterns. Sudden impacts followed by inactivity are classified as falls using threshold-based rules or a trained ML model. On detecting a fall, the device triggers a buzzer or vibration to check if the user cancels the alert; if not cancelled within a short period, it sends an emergency alert (SMS, call, or app notification) with the user’s location to caregivers.

Components required

• IMU sensor (e.g. MPU6050 / MPU9250)
• Microcontroller with BLE/Wi-Fi (ESP32 / nRF52)
• Battery and charging circuit (Li-ion/LiPo + charger)
• Buzzer or vibration motor
• Push button for cancel/confirm
• Mobile app or web service for alerts
• Optional GPS module for location

Block diagram

Working

The wearable continuously samples acceleration and angular velocity from the IMU sensor. A signal processing module computes features like resultant acceleration magnitude, orientation change and impact peaks. If a strong impact followed by low motion is detected, the system assumes a potential fall. It triggers a buzzer or vibration to alert the user and starts a short countdown. If the user presses the button to cancel, the event is discarded as a false trigger. If not cancelled, the device sends an alert containing the event time and optionally location information to a paired smartphone or cloud service, which then notifies caregivers.

Applications

• Home monitoring of elderly or high-risk patients
• Hospitals and rehabilitation centers
• Workplace safety in high-risk environments
• Assistive living and telehealth systems