The field of exoskeletons has undergone an evolution from complex full-body exoskeletons that did not (yet) produce the expected results towards simpler single-joint exoskeletons that can improve the mobility of people. While full-body and single-joint exoskeletons certainly have appropriate applications, we need to get a better understanding of the distal and proximal assistive mechanisms and provide insights that are currently lacking on how to assist walking in an even simpler way than single-joint exoskeletons. This dissertation details an iterative approach toward the development of simplified and efficient assistance strategies for improving human locomotion. We first conducted an experiment to observe the human response to proximal and distal perturbations by altering the treadmill grade and footwear inclination. The results indicate that the metabolic rate is predominantly sensitive to changes in the center of mass (COM) mechanics and further motivate the development of devices that can assist walking at the level of the COM. We then developed a robotic tether system that allows applying desired cyclic force profiles as a function of step time to provide whole-body assistance during walking. By leveraging the system capabilities, we performed an experiment and simple pendulum simulation to investigate the effects of timing and magnitude for non-constant force profiles at the COM. Through these experiments and the simulation, we found that assistance at the COM during the double stance phase can efficiently reduce the metabolic rate of walking half. Surprisingly, assisting propulsion did not maximize the reduction in metabolic rate, and our pendulum model revealed that the reduction in metabolic rate can instead be explained by the assistance of COM acceleration at the beginning of the step. Ultimately, our long term goal is to develop similar strategies to populations with gait disabilities, but as a primary step, we investigated the biomechanical mechanisms to assist lower limb joints using timed forward forces at the COM. To that end, we assessed the underlying mechanisms of muscle and joint parameters that explain the effects of timing and magnitude of horizontal forces at the COM on metabolic rate. The results show that the metabolically optimal timing assisted the ankle muscles that are responsible for push-off, and the knee and hip muscles that are responsible for collision. Based on these findings, it seems possible to assist different joints by different amounts by varying the timing of forces at the COM. This could be useful in clinical populations for providing ‘targeted’ joint-specific assistance without having to switch between different exoskeletons. We expect our experimental findings to provide knowledge on optimal force profiles that could be used for treadmill exercise therapy, motorized ‘rollator’-style assistive devices for walking, and even it could even inspire new strategies for combined actions of the ankle, knee, and hip of full-body exoskeletons. Timed forces at the COM could be used to assist patients with impaired gait and facilitate proactive user participation that has been identified as a critical factor in improving locomotor outcomes for rehabilitation robotics.

Understanding Mammalian Locomotion will formally introduce the emerging perspective of collision dynamics in mammalian terrestrial locomotion and explain how it influences the interpretation of form and functional capabilities. The objective is to bring the reader interested in the function and mechanics of mammalian terrestrial locomotion to a sophisticated conceptual understanding of the relevant mechanics and the current debate ongoing in the field.

A large number of volumes have been produced summarizing the work on generation and control of rhythmic movements, in particular locomotion. Unfortunately most of them focus on locomotor studies done on animals. This edited volume redresses that imbalance by focusing completely on human locomotor behaviour. The very nature of the problem has both necessitated and attracted researchers from a wide variety of disciplines ranging from psychology, neurophysiology, kinesiology, engineering, medicine to computer science. The different and unique perspectives they bring to this problem provide a comprehensive picture of the current state of knowledge on the generation and regulation of human locomotor behaviour.A common unifying theme of this volume is studying the adaptability of human gait to obtain insights into the control of locomotion. The intentional focus on "adaptability" is meant to draw attention to the importance of understanding the generation and regulation of "skilled locomotor behaviour" rather than just the generation of basic locomotor patterns which has been the major focus of animal studies. The synthesis chapter at the end of the volume examines how the questions posed, the technology, and the experimental and theoretical paradigms have evolved over the years, and what the future has in store for this important research domain.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Articulated Motion and Deformable Objects, AMDO 2002, held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in November 2002.The 21 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. Among the topics addressed are geometric and physical deformable objects, motion analysis, articulated models and animation, visualization of deformable models, 3D recovery from motion, single or multiple human motion analysis and synthesis, applications of deformable models and motion analysis, face tracking, recovery and recognition models.

Origins and Principles of Clinical Biomechanics in Human Locomotion discusses key concepts of how biomechanics links to the development of pathology through mechanical laws, anatomy, physiology and health. It provides fundamental principles and practical data, and guidance of how to apply these in the clinical biomechanics field. Coverage includes: major joint movement, muscle action around joints, physiology and patho-physiology of bone, muscle and neurologic disorders. This reference is ideal for teaching students in biomechanics, orthopedics and physiotherapy. It should also be of interest to product development engineers, rehabilitation engineers, those working in prosthetics and orthotics, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The authors explore the simple laws of motion as applied to anatomy and physiology, in order to help readers understand human pathology within the human lower limb and mobility. They then go on to look at materials science concerns within this field, such as engineering stresses and strains, principles and types of material properties and the shaping of structural properties. Readers will also find within this book information on tissue science, force generation, biological sciences, evolution in biomechanics, human gait, functional units of the lower limb and foot, and finally pathomechanical principles; all as applied to clinical biomechanics. Bridges the void between research biomechanics and clinically applied biomechanics Links human locomotive biomechanics to medicine, physiology and evolutionary anatomy and medicine Prepares students, bioengineers and clinicians for the reality of utilizing biomechanical principles in clinical practice, while informing researchers of the environment limits that most clinical biomechanics practice occurs in

This book gathers the proceedings of the 16th IFToMM World Congress, which was held in Tokyo, Japan, on November 5–10, 2023. Having been organized every four years since 1965, the Congress represents the world’s largest scientific event on mechanism and machine science (MMS). The contributions cover an extremely diverse range of topics, including biomechanical engineering, computational kinematics, design methodologies, dynamics of machinery, multibody dynamics, gearing and transmissions, history of MMS, linkage and mechanical controls, robotics and mechatronics, micro-mechanisms, reliability of machines and mechanisms, rotor dynamics, standardization of terminology, sustainable energy systems, transportation machinery, tribology and vibration. Selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, they highlight numerous exciting advances and ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster new multidisciplinary collaborations.

Energetics of Human Activity provides a detailed, contemporary discussion of the efficiency of movement from a multidisciplinary perspective. The text explores the process by which humans optimize their energy expenditure in learning and controlling movements. As the first collaborative text that focuses on the energetics of motor coordination and control, Energetics of Human Activity is written by 24 international researchers in the movement sciences, including noted experts from the fields of psychology, physiology, and biomechanics. This presents the reader with a broad range of opinions and research findings. Collectively, the chapters discuss three topics of interest from a movement economy perspective: individual differences, motor learning, and the control of action. The hypothesis that minimization of metabolic energy expenditure is a universal constraint on the structure of emerging movement patterns is also presented by three movement subdiscipline perspectives. These approaches include the mechanics of human motion, the physiological cost of meeting task demands, and the effects of practice on performance. Each chapter provides a systematic basis for examining metabolic energy expenditure, presents the research findings that support the contention that energy expenditure regulates the development of movement patterns, and makes valuable suggestions to stimulate future research. The text also contains more than 100 figures that are clear and easy to interpret, making the information simple to understand. Energetics of Human Activity is a unique text that provides a complete perspective on metabolic energy expenditure from various disciplines. It is an invaluable resource for movement science professionals.

This book presents an account of innovative methods and, for most of them, gives direct and practical insights into how practitioners can benefit from their use in their everyday practice. It also explains how to interpret the data measured, and the underlying neuromechanical and biomechanical factors related to sports performance. Written and edited by the same researchers who proposed and validated these methods, this book not only presents innovative methods for an efficient training and testing process (most of which are based on very simple technology and data processing methods), but also discusses the associated background information. Although it is a young scientific discipline, sport biomechanics has taken on an important role in routine sports training, medicine and rehabilitation. It allows both a better understanding of human locomotion and performance and better design of training and injury prevention. In those processes, the testing of athletes is crucial, and the quality and quantity of the variables analysed directly influences the efficiency of physicians’, coaches’, physiotherapists’ and other practitioners’ interventions.

Being the premier forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of Industrial Engineering, IEEM 2014 aims to provide a high-level international forum for experts, scholars and entrepreneurs at home and abroad to present the recent advances, new techniques and applications face and face, to promote discussion and interaction among academics, researchers and professionals to promote the developments and applications of the related theories and technologies in universities and enterprises and to establish business or research relations to find global partners for future collaboration in the field of Industrial Engineering. All the goals of the international conference are to fulfill the mission of the series conference which is to review, exchange, summarize and promote the latest achievements in the field of industrial engineering and engineering management over the past year and to propose prospects and vision for the further development.