3D-Simulation of human walking by parameter optimization

The simulation of human gait is a complex dynamical problem that requires accounting for energy consumption as well as dealing with a redundantly actuated multibody system. If muscle forces and generalized coordinates are parameterized, optimization techniques allow the simulation of the muscle forces and of the walking motion. An optimization framework is presented for non-symmetrical gait cycles found in the presence of one-sided gait disorders. The motion of each leg is independently parameterized for a whole walking cycle. The non-linear constraints used to fulfill the equations of motion and the kinematical constraints of the different walking phases are implemented in an efficient way. Fifth-order splines are used for the parameterization to reduce the oscillatory behavior coming from non-periodicity conditions. To achieve the computational performance required for three-dimensional simulations, the spline interpolation problem has been split in two parts, one is performed in a preprocessing stage and the other during the optimization. Numerical differentiation via finite differences is avoided by implementing analytical derivatives of the splines functions and of the contractile element force law. The results show good numerical performance, and the computational efficiency for 3D-simulations with one-sided gait disorders is highlighted.     

Control strategy of central pattern generator gait movement under condition of attention selection

As a typical rhythmic movement, human being’s rhythmic gait movement can be generated by a central pattern generator (CPG) located in a spinal cord by self-oscillation. Some kinds of gait movements are caused by gait frequency and amplitude variances. As an important property of human being’s motion vision, the attention selection mechanism plays a vital part in the regulation of gait movement. In this paper, the CPG model is amended under the condition of attention selection on the theoretical basis of Matsuoka neural oscillators. Regulation of attention selection signal for the CPG model parameters and structure is studied, which consequentially causes the frequency and amplitude changes of gait movement output. Further, the control strategy of the CPG model gait movement under the condition of attention selection is discussed, showing that the attention selection model can regulate the output model of CPG gait movement in three different ways. The realization of regulation on the gait movement frequency and amplitude shows a variety of regulation on the CPG gait movement made by attention selection and enriches the controllability of CPG gait movement, which demonstrates potential influence in engineering applications.     

Asymmetric three-link passive walker

Passive walkers are dynamically stable robots with a gait that resembles the human locomotion. These walkers can be studied to better understand the dynamic behavior of the human gait and design efficient active walkers and assistive devices. In this paper, we study the walking dynamics of a three-link passive walker with an asymmetrical structure where one leg has a knee while the other is knee-less. After finding a 2-periodic steady gait for the three-link walker with humanlike inertial parameters for both legs, the possibility of a gait with symmetrical step lengths is discussed where the half inter-leg angles at the beginning of every step are made equal by altering the physical parameters of the knee-less leg. We further study the gaits with symmetrical step lengths and show that by replacing one leg of a four-link symmetric walker with the knee-less leg of the three-link walker with the symmetrical half inter-leg angles, the dynamic behavior of the kneed leg remains unchanged. This approach can be adapted in the field of gait rehabilitation and prosthesis design to obtain a more symmetrical gait and preserve the motion of the healthy leg.

     

Modeling and analysis of passive dynamic bipedal walking with segmented feet and compliant joints

Passive dynamic walking has been developed as a possible explanation for the efficiency of the human gait. This paper presents a passive dynamic walking model with segmented feet, which makes the bipedal walking gait more close to natural human-like gait. The proposed model extends the simplest walking model with the addition of flat feet and torsional spring based compliance on ankle joints and toe joints, to achieve stable walking on a slope driven by gravity. The push-off phase includes foot rotations around the toe joint and around the toe tip, which shows a great resemblance to human normal walking. This paper investigates the effects of the segmented foot structure on bipedal walking in simulations. The model achieves satisfactory walking results on even or uneven slopes.     

Stability of quadruped robots’ trajectories subjected to discrete perturbations

In this paper, we study the stability of a mathematical model for trajectory generation of a qua-druped robot. We consider that each movement is composed of two types of primitives: rhythmic and discrete. The discrete primitive is inserted as a perturbation of the purely rhythmic movement. The two primitives are modeled by nonlinear dynamical systems. We adapt the theory developed by Golubitsky et?al. in (Physica D 115: 56?C72, 1998; Buono and Golubitsky in J. Math. Biol. 42:291?C326, 2001) for quadrupeds gaits. We conclude that if the discrete part is inserted in all limbs, with equal values, and as an offset of the rhythmic part, the obtained gait is stable and has the same spatial and spatiotemporal symmetry groups as the purely rhythmic gait, differing only on the value of the offset.     

基于步态切换的欠驱动双足机器人控制方法

由于高维、非线性、欠驱动等特点, 3-D双足机器人的稳定性控制依然是一个研究难点. 一些传统的控制方法, 如基于事件的反馈控制方法和PD控制方法, 抗扰动能力较弱, 鲁棒性较差. 通过观察, 人类受到外部扰动影响时, 会通过调整步态重新获得稳定性,相较之下仅依靠一个步态获得的稳定性是有限的. 受此启发, 本文针对上述问题提出一种基于步态切换的欠驱动3-D双足机器人控制方法. 首先, 以能耗最少为优化目标, 通过非线性优化方法预先设计多组不同步长、步速的步态作为参考步态, 以构建一个步态库; 然后, 通过综合考虑步态切换过程中的稳定性与能效, 建立了多目标步态切换函数; 最后, 将该步态切换函数作为优化目标, 并求解该最小化问题获得下一步的参考步态, 从而实现步态切换, 达到使用步态库?多轨迹方法来提高鲁棒性的目的. 在仿真实验中运用该步态切换控制方法, 欠驱动3-D双足机器人可实现相对高度在[-20, 20] mm内随机变化的不平整地面上行走, 而仅采用单步态控制策略则无法克服这样的外部扰动, 从而说明了基于步态切换的欠驱动双足机器人控制方法的有效性.      

Transparency enhancement for an active knee orthosis by a constraint-free mechanical design and a gait phase detection based predictive control

This paper proposes a novel mechanical design of a lower limb exoskeleton device which prevents the residual stresses due to arthro-kinematics movements of synovial joints and by the way allows effective compensation for dynamic disturbances in osteo-kinematic movements of the wearer. Here, the exoskeleton is only actuated at the knee joints to provide assistive torques, which are required to assist the anatomical joint motion and to increase the transparency of the device. Dynamic simulations of a virtual human equipped with this exoskeleton are used to quantify the disturbances induced by the device during locomotion and to show the benefit of passive mechanisms introduced in the mechanical attaches as well. The authors also demonstrated how the device’s transparency can be improved by providing the motor torques in order to compensate the inertial and gravitational effects. This can be done rely on the knowledge of the locomotion movement phases. A robust gait phase detection method was implemented on the experimental device in order to identify specific gait phases in real time. This method exploits the K-nearest neighbors algorithm to identify the k-closest trained vectors, coupling with a discrete time Markov chain to determine the phases shift probability during the gait cycle. This gait detection algorithm was tested with a percentage of success of more than 95% when the subjects walked with constant and variable stride lengths.     

A free gait algorithm for quadrupedal walking machines

A free gait is a computer generated, rule-based gait for a walking machine to walk on rough terrain. Based on a given terrain map, the gait algorithm selects footholds for leg placements and determines the movements of legs and body. In the past, a few free gaits for hexapods have been developed. For quadrupeds, the only report on free gait was briefly mentioned in a paper by Hirose [Int. J. Robotics Res., 3(2) (1984)]. In this paper, a free gait algorithm for a quadrupedal walking chair is developed. For quadrupeds, the stability margin is small due to a small number of legs and the choices of a leg to be lifted are limited. Hence, deadlock situations may occur quite often. Many special techniques are incorporated into the algorithm in order to reduce deadlocks. This free gait algorithm adopts the wave-crab gaits as the primary gait because they are periodic and can provide good stability. The algorithm also adopts a non-periodic free gait to handle terrain with higher concentration of forbidden areas. This algorithm is evaluated under different terrain conditions using computer simulations. The results show that the performance is satisfactory on randomly generated rough terrain and needs improvement on manually generated rough terrain.     

基于MEMS惯性测量单元的多源信息自适应步数检测方法

针对基于MEMS惯性测量单元的行人航迹推算中步数检测方法仅利用单一的加速度信号检测精度较低的问题,提出一种多源信息自适应步数检测方法。该方法通过综合考虑人体运动过程中的加速度信号和角速度信号,根据不同的步态特征通过设定不同的自适应阈值条件实现步数的检测。虽然常规的峰值检测算法和固定阈值检测算法在单一步态下步数检测精度相对较高,但是对复杂运动状态下的步数检测精度很差,无法适用于真实的行人运动过程中步数的检测。然而多源信息自适应步数检测方法却能够在行人不同运动状态下精确检测步数,该方法明显优于常规的峰值检测方法和阈值检测方法。试验结果表明,本文提出的多源信息自适应阈值检测方法在行人不同运动状态下的步数检测精度可达98%以上。     

维生素 E型人工膝关节在ISO标准步态与上楼梯运动下的磨损情况对比

为研究人工膝关节假体在ISO标准步态与上楼梯运动负载下的摩擦磨损情况,通过对日常活动频次及动力学和运动学的研究与分析,基于人工膝关节磨损试验机,以新型Vitamin E型人工膝关节为对象进行500万次标准步态磨损测试加200万次上楼梯运动磨损测试. 结果表明正常步态阶段的磨损率为4.34 mg/mc,上楼梯运动阶段的磨损率为5.95 mg/mc. 上楼梯运动相比标准步态对半月板衬垫的磨损量造成更大的影响,半月板衬垫表面形貌相较标准步态磨损后表面形貌也发生了显著变化,出现了条纹图案和局部凹陷,这种表面形貌结果更接近于临床半月板衬垫取出物的表面形貌,目前对于人工膝关节假体的标准磨损测试方式不够全面,需要进一步改进整个测试的方案才能更好地体现体外磨损测试的意义.      

基于MEMS加速度传感器的步态识别

针对最小采集约束条件和经历长时间跨度下识别率低的问题,提出一种基于MEMS加速度传感器的步态识别算法。该算法以右髋部位置采集加速度信号构造多个高斯差分尺度空间,利用局部关键点生成稀疏表示的步态特征位置模板,并采用模板融合来有效转换稀疏性步态周期特征,最后利用最近邻算法和投票机制对步态特征进行识别。在公开的含175名测试者的步态加速度数据集上进行测试,实验结果显示识别率为98.67%和认证率为99.89%,并进一步研究了测试集和训练集样本数目对识别效果的影响,验证了特征提取的有效性和稳定性。     

Soil stress distribution related to neutralizing antipersonnel landmines from human locomotion and impact mechanisms

Soil stress distribution was investigated to understand and to develop means for detonating or neutralizing antipersonnel landmines. Specifically, the loading patterns within the soil attributable to the human gait, as well as those derived from a mechanism that delivers an impact load that is being developed for neutralizing antipersonnel landmines, were studied. Experiments were conducted in the soil bin facilities in the Department of Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. Both load cells and mechanically reproduced devices (MRDs), buried at depths of 50, 100, 150 and 200 mm, were used to measure the transmitted forces through the soil. The load cells provided measurements of the temporal load patterns as transferred through the soil, whereas the MRDs indicated the ability for the person or mechanism to successfully trigger a typical antipersonnel landmine. Both forces and impulses based on the load cell data were used as measures for comparison. The key results of the investigation showed human locomotion imparted a load of longer duration than did the impact from the mechanical device; the corresponding soil stresses increased with increasing human weight and impact loads; and forces in the soil increased with higher initial soil compaction level.     

Application of ultrasound imaging to subject-specific modelling of the human musculoskeletal system

Ultrasound imaging is relatively inexpensive, does not involve ionising radiation, and requires much shorter scan times compared with other imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. These advantages make it an appealing option in both clinical and research settings. Computational models of the human musculoskeletal system are used for a wide range of applications in biomechanics, from studies of muscle function during locomotion to pre-operative planning of orthopaedic surgeries. The integration of ultrasound imaging with musculoskeletal modelling has the potential to create new opportunities in the study of human movement science. Subject-specific measures of muscle–tendon properties and bone geometry obtained from ultrasound imaging are now being used in conjunction with detailed models of the musculoskeletal system to better understand muscle–tendon function during normal and pathological movement. This approach also allows more rigorous validation studies to be performed to quantify the accuracy of musculoskeletal modelling predictions. We have been using ultrasound imaging to create subject-specific models of the human musculoskeletal system for the purpose of simulating normal and pathological gait. This review describes our experiences in using ultrasound imaging to measure muscle–tendon architecture and bone geometry in vivo. Recent studies focused on integrating ultrasound imaging and musculoskeletal modelling to determine muscle–tendon function in human walking and running are also described.     

踝关节外骨骼人机耦合动力学与助力性能分析

踝关节在人体下肢运动过程中提供了最大的关节力矩, 因此在下肢增强型外骨骼的研究中, 踝关节外骨骼受到了重点关注. 穿戴外骨骼的人体的行走是典型的动力学问题, 但目前人机耦合动力学的相关研究还处于早期阶段. 本文以绳驱踝关节外骨骼为研究对象, 融合机器人正运动学方法和拉格朗日方程建立了考虑足?地交互力、人体关节力矩和外骨骼力矩的人?机耦合动力学模型. 模型中, 足?地交互力由Kelvin-Voigt模型结合库伦摩擦模型描述, 人体关节力矩由基于粒子群优化的PD控制生成, 外骨骼期望力矩由上层控制器依据人体步态周期确定. 通过基于模型的动力学仿真, 本文从人体踝关节角度、踝关节力矩、踝关节功率和踝关节做功多个角度系统分析了踝关节外骨骼对人体行走的助力效果. 研究表明, 在2.0 km/h到6.5 km/h的人体步行速度下, 穿戴外骨骼可以实现至少24.84%的人体踝关节平均力矩下降和至少24.69%的踝关节做功下降. 本文也开展了基于SCONE平台的肌肉骨骼建模和预测仿真. 仿真结果表明, 在3.6 km/h的步行速度下, 穿戴外骨骼可以有效降低比目鱼肌的激活度峰值, 并使肌电信号的RMS值下降了6.21%, 从而从生理学的角度证实了踝关节外骨骼的助力效果. 本文的结果进一步完善了人体下肢?外骨骼耦合系统的动力学建模和分析方法, 从动力学和生理学角度证实和解释了踝关节外骨骼对行走的助力机制, 也为今后下肢外骨骼的实验研究提供了理论支撑.      

The simple chaotic model of passive dynamic walking

Recent findings on the dynamical analysis of human locomotion characteristics such as stride length signal have shown that this process is intrinsically a chaotic behavior. The passive walking has been defined as walking down a shallow slope without using any muscular contraction as an active controller. Based on this definition, some knee-less models have been proposed to present the simplest possible models of human gait. To maintain stability, these simple passive models are compelled to show a wide range of different dynamics from order to chaos. Unfortunately, based on simplifications, for many years the cyclic period-one behavior of these models has been considered as the only stable response. This assumption is not in line with the findings about the nature of walking. Thus, this paper proposes a novel model to demonstrate that the knee-less passive dynamic models also have the ability to model the chaotic behavior of human locomotion with some modifications. The presented novel model can show chaotic behavior as a stable and acceptable answer using a chaotic function in heel-strike condition. The represented chaotic model is also able to simulate different types of motor deficits such as Parkinson’s disease only by manipulating the value of chaotic parameter. Our model has extensively examined in complexity and chaotic behavior using different analytical methods such as fractal dimension, bifurcation and largest Lyapunov exponent, and it was compared with conventional passive models and the stride signal of healthy subjects and Parkinson patients.     

坡面道路上地面形貌对人体步进摩擦的影响

人体行走经常发生滑摔事故,而坡面道路是人体行走的典型路况之一. 当前通过改变鞋底和地板的材料、鞋底和地板的表面形貌以提高步进摩擦系数的研究多是基于水平路面,对坡面道路上的人体行走,特别是地面形貌变化对坡面道路上的人体行走研究较少. 本文中以45钢作为材料,制备出表面波纹度相同而表面形貌不同的地板,利用步进摩擦试验平台改变行走路面的坡度研究了地面形貌变化对坡面道路上人体步进摩擦的影响. 结果表明:坡度对有效摩擦系数的影响高于表面形貌;随着坡度的增加,安全行走所需的必要摩擦系数增大,地面提供的有效摩擦系数减小,步频则先增大后减小;上坡启动时脚掌与路面的有效接触面积和下坡制动时脚跟的有效接触面积随坡度的增加而减小,导致有效摩擦系数降低,滑摔倾向增大. 人体行走姿态为了保持平衡而缩短步长以降低必要摩擦系数.      

The Molecular Mechanics of Collagen Degradation: Implications for Human Disease

Collagen is a unique structural protein that imparts tensile strength to bone, tendons, and numerous other tissues. Like many biological polymers, collagen is continually synthesized and degraded in the extracellular space. While collagen degradation is a normal part of collagen homeostasis, excessive collagenolysis has been implicated in a number of human diseases such as arthritis, cancer, and atherosclerosis. In this work we demonstrate how molecular simulations can be used to study the mechanics of collagen degradation. Dynamical simulations, which model the structural fluctuations that collagen can undergo under physiologic conditions, reveal that portions of collagen are quite flexible—a somewhat counterintuitive finding. Moreover, this flexibility likely facilitates the recognition and cleavage of collagen by proteolytic enzymes. Experiments on collagen-like model compounds are consistent with these observations and demonstrate that new insights into the physical basis of collagenolysis can be obtained from a combination of experiment and computation. More importantly, these results highlight new avenues for the development of potential therapies for disorders that involve abnormal collagen catabolism.     

Dynamics and trajectory planning of a planar flipping robot

In this paper, a new planar one-legged robot model is firstly proposed, which, unlike previous one-legged robot with springy legs, consists of three revolute joints. Then a novel manner of one-legged locomotion (i.e., ballistic flip) is designed for this robot. A complete flipping gait cycle is composed of four phases: two stance phases and two flight phases. During flight phases, no active control is needed on the knee joint. Rotational motion and translational motion is decoupled from each other in flight phases. Landing of the robot is regarded as an inelastic impulsive impact. During stance phases, the robot model can be simplified as a two-degree-of-freedom rigid manipulator. Based on analysis of kinematics and dynamics of the flip robot, trajectory planning of cyclic flip gait is formulized as a problem of numerical optimization subject to nonlinear constraints such as positive reaction force of ground and finite torque of the joints. One potential application of the flipping robot is space exploration, which urgently requires the legged locomotive robots to be light-weighted and energy efficient.     

人体上体系统振动生物力学模型研究

基于分析力学基本原理 ,结合人体上体系统实际状况 ,从动力学普遍方程推导了人体上体系 5自由度的振动生物力学模型。通过软件仿真 ,自动地生成动力学微分方程表达式 ,避免了复杂的人工推导 ;并通过数值分析 ,模拟了人体对不同振动类型的响应 ,研究了人体上体的振动特征。所得结果对说明人体坐姿式在振动环境下舒适性以及进一步研究有关人体的振动有一定的指导意义 ;利用提出的模型与仿真软件能够实现对座椅结构参数的优化。     

A low-cost optimization framework to solve muscle redundancy problem

Prediction of muscle activations based on optimization procedures mostly leads to a prohibitive computational effort. To overcome this problem, an optimization framework by reformulation of the so-called method of extended inverse dynamics (EID) was developed. A planar, seven-segment model with sixteen muscle groups was used to represent human neuromusculoskeletal dynamics. The muscle activations were estimated based on two methods: EID, which treats the system dynamics (compatibility between muscular and skeletal torques), as an equality constraint, and the proposed method, which employs unconstrained system dynamics of EID (USDEID). The proposed method is based on the idea that the EID equality constraint, which is difficult to satisfy, can be eliminated by reformulation of the governing equations and optimization variables, which not only relaxes the optimization problem and leads to less optimization parameters, but also guarantees the full compatibility of the system dynamics. The comparison of simulation results of optimal muscle activations against experimental data showed a reasonable agreement for both methods during half of a gait cycle. Optimization results showed that USDEID is not only more accurate than EID in terms of the compatibility between the skeletal and muscular system dynamics, but also approximately eight times faster for ten random initial values. USDEID may be used to predict muscle activations, when the computational cost becomes prohibitive.