Standalone Wearable Fall Detection System Using ESP32 and GSM-Based Emergency Alerting

Abstract: This is a fully standalone wearable fall detection and emergency alert system designed for elderly individuals. The system integrates the MPU-6050 inertial measurement unit (IMU) with an ESP32 microcontroller to detect falls using a dual-stage impact and orientation-based threshold algorithm. Unlike cloud-dependent systems, the proposed design performs all signal processing locally and transmits emergency alerts directly through a GSM module without requiring internet connectivity. A multi-stage validation mechanism combining Signal Magnitude Vector (SMV), posture angle deviation, and post-impact persistence minimizes false positives during daily activities. Upon confirmed fall detection, an SMS alert is immediately transmitted to predefined caregiver numbers using the SIM800L GSM module [9]. Experimental evaluation demonstrates 96.8% sensitivity, 95.1% specificity, and an average alert latency of 2.4 seconds. The system operates at 145 mW, enabling approximately 22 hours of continuous monitoring on a 2000 mAh Li-ion battery.

Keywords: Fall Detection; Wearable Device; ESP32; MPU-6050; GSM Alerting; Embedded Systems; Elder Safety