A modelling approach to the dynamics of gait initiation. Issue 128 (8th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Anand, Manish; Seipel, Justin; Rietdyk, Shirley
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Royal Society interface. Volume 14:Issue 128(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-03-08
• Subjects: gait initiation. locomotion -- SLIP -- open loop; Physical sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Interdisciplinary research -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0043
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-5689

Abstract

Abstract : Gait initiation is an integral and complex part of human locomotion. In this paper, we present a novel compliant-leg model-based approach to understanding the key phases of initiation, the nature of the effective forces involved in initiation, and the importance of the anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). The results demonstrate that in the presence of APAs, we observe a change in the characteristic of forcing required for initiation, and the energetic cost of gait initiation is also reduced by approximately 58%. APAs also result in biologically relevant leg landing angles and trajectories of motion. Furthermore, we find that a sublinear functional relationship with the velocity error from steady state predicts the required force, consistent with an open loop control law basis for gait initiation.