My force plate is showing a force higher or lower than expected

It can be confusing when your force plates aren’t showing a force profile you expect but at a higher or lower magnitude than expected. Try these tips to bring it back to an expected range.

Zero the signal

Zero the amplifier and zero the device in Nexus This is an easily over looked step and can hugely affect your force readings.

Allow the amplifier to “settle”

We recommend waiting at least 30 minutes after switching your amplifier on before using your force plate.

Check the calibration matrix

This becomes an issue particularly when using multiple plates, especially if cables are being moved around. Using a calibration matrix that doesn’t match your plate serial number will cause issues particularly with force magnitudes.

Ensure your force plate is flat

If your force plate is not flat it can alter the resting state forces of your plate, and if your force plate is not secure any movement of the plate will also be recording forces related to this movement.

Check the pin-outs

In Nexus you can check the raw signal from each of the signal pins. Right click on the device, select raw and you will be able to graph the pin outputs. Step on the plate and check the read outs, you may find that one

Other questions when diagnosing

Is it one channel or all channels?

Is it wrong by the same factor for affected channels?

Has this started suddenly?

Is your signal noisy? We have a guide to help if you are looking to reduce noise for your AMTI devices here.

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