Gyroscopic utensil for Parkinson’s Disease

Atuba, Sunday; Mullen, Jake; Rakhtalarostami, Mehdi

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition that impairs motor function, often resulting in involuntary movements such as hand tremors. These tremors can significantly impact daily activities, including eating, thereby reducing individuals’ independence and increasing their reliance on caregivers. This paper presents the design, development, and evaluation of a gyroscopic utensil aimed at mitigating hand tremors to support individuals living with Parkinson’s disease. The system incorporates an ESP32 microcontroller, dual inertial measurement units (IMUs), and a motorised stabilisation mechanism, employing compact DC motors and Hall effect sensors within a closed-loop feedback system. A Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control algorithm is implemented to provide responsive and stable compensation for involuntary motion. MATLAB and Simulink simulations, alongside physical testing, demonstrate a significant reduction in tremor-induced oscillations, achieving a steady-state error of 0.000% and a peak error of 5.81% . Furthermore, comparative testing revealed an average reduction in food loss of 92.5% relative to a standard spoon. Key hardware components were selected for their compactness, precision, and energy efficiency, supporting a lightweight, battery-powered design suitable for everyday use. Overall, the results indicate that the device has the potential to enhance quality of life by enabling greater autonomy in essential daily tasks.

Keywords—Gyroscope, IMU, Parkinsons disease, Stabilisation, Proportional Integral Derivative Controller

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: The 11th IEEE International Conference on Data Science and Systems (DSS-2025)
• Start Date: Aug 13, 2025
• End Date: Aug 15, 2025
• Acceptance Date: Jun 24, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jul 9, 2025
• Journal: The 11th IEEE International Conference on Data Science and Systems (DSS-2025)
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14685359
• Publisher URL: https://hpcn.exeter.ac.uk/dss2025/accepted-paper-list.php