2020/04/06 by Özge Drama, Johanna Vielemeyer, Drama, Özge +5
Engineering · Medicine · #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Electrical engineering #Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies #Robotic Locomotion and Control #Robotics (cs.RO) #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #Winter Sports Injuries and Performance #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2004.02415
openalex publication_date 2020/04/06 · openalex created_date 2022/07/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Postural stability is one of the most crucial elements in bipedal locomotion.\nBipeds are dynamically unstable and need to maintain their trunk upright\nagainst the rotations induced by the ground reaction forces (GRFs), especially\nwhen running. Gait studies report that the GRF vectors focus around a virtual\npoint above the center of mass (VPA), while the trunk moves forward in pitch\naxis during the stance phase of human running. However, a recent simulation\nstudy suggests that a virtual point below the center of mass (VPB) might be\npresent in human running, since a VPA yields backward trunk rotation during the\nstance phase. In this work, we perform a gait analysis to investigate the\nexistence and location of the VP in human running at 5 ms-1, and support our\nfindings numerically using the spring-loaded inverted pendulum model with a\ntrunk (TSLIP). We extend our analysis to include perturbations in terrain\nheight (visible and camouflaged), and investigate the response of the VP\nmechanism to step-down perturbations both experimentally and numerically. Our\nexperimental results show that the human running gait displays a VPB of ~-30cm\nand a forward trunk motion during the stance phase. The camouflaged step-down\nperturbations affect the location of the VPB. Our simulation results suggest\nthat the VPB is able to encounter the step-down perturbations and bring the\nsystem back to its initial equilibrium state.\n