Human walking adaptations to distant limb mass disturbances : investigating biomimetic performance objectives

Online optimal trajectory planning is required in the control of humanoid robots, advanced prostheses, and impaired human limbs via functional neuromuscular stimulation . Optimization problems that involve complex, high degree of freedom simulations of the musculoskeletal system require extensive computational effort to solve. A methodology for generating optimal gait patterns in an online and computationally efficient manner is needed. It is the goal of this thesis to work towards the development of biologic performance criteria that can be utilized in finding solutions to reduced order walking optimization problems. Toward the development of biologically realistic performance criteria, human subjects were inertially-perturbed and the reorganization of gait quantitatively measured. Ten subjects walked at a self-selected speed with and without a 5 kg mass attached to the right ankle. Kinetic and kinematic data were collected for the weighted and unweighted conditions using ground force platforms and a multi-camera infrared tracking system, respectively. A 16 segment model of the body was built for each subject and a variety of kinematic, kinetic, and total system parameters calculated throughout the gait cycle.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Swilling, Benjamin John

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hugh Herr.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33911

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33911