Force treadmill for measuring vertical and horizontal ground reaction forces

1998 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 764-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodger Kram ◽  
Timothy M. Griffin ◽  
J. Maxwell Donelan ◽  
Young Hui Chang

We constructed a force treadmill to measure the vertical, horizontal and lateral components of the ground-reaction forces (Fz, Fy, Fx, respectively) and the ground-reaction force moments (Mz, My, Mx), respectively exerted by walking and running humans. The chassis of a custom-built, lightweight (90 kg), mechanically stiff treadmill was supported along its length by a large commercial force platform. The natural frequencies of vibration were >178 Hz for Fzand >87 Hz for Fy, i.e., well above the signal content of these ground-reaction forces. Mechanical tests and comparisons with data obtained from a force platform runway indicated that the force treadmill recorded Fz, Fy,Mxand Myground-reaction forces and moments accurately. Although the lowest natural frequency of vibration was 88 Hz for Fx, the signal-to-noise ratios for Fxand Mzwere unacceptable. This device greatly decreases the time and laboratory space required for locomotion experiments and clinical evaluations. The modular design allows for independent use of both treadmill and force platform.

2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (5) ◽  
pp. 1315-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew B. Udofa ◽  
Kenneth P. Clark ◽  
Laurence J. Ryan ◽  
Peter G. Weyand

Although running shoes alter foot-ground reaction forces, particularly during impact, how they do so is incompletely understood. Here, we hypothesized that footwear effects on running ground reaction force-time patterns can be accurately predicted from the motion of two components of the body’s mass (mb): the contacting lower-limb (m1 = 0.08mb) and the remainder (m2 = 0.92mb). Simultaneous motion and vertical ground reaction force-time data were acquired at 1,000 Hz from eight uninstructed subjects running on a force-instrumented treadmill at 4.0 and 7.0 m/s under four footwear conditions: barefoot, minimal sole, thin sole, and thick sole. Vertical ground reaction force-time patterns were generated from the two-mass model using body mass and footfall-specific measures of contact time, aerial time, and lower-limb impact deceleration. Model force-time patterns generated using the empirical inputs acquired for each footfall matched the measured patterns closely across the four footwear conditions at both protocol speeds ( r2 = 0.96 ± 0.004; root mean squared error  = 0.17 ± 0.01 body-weight units; n = 275 total footfalls). Foot landing angles (θF) were inversely related to footwear thickness; more positive or plantar-flexed landing angles coincided with longer-impact durations and force-time patterns lacking distinct rising-edge force peaks. Our results support three conclusions: 1) running ground reaction force-time patterns across footwear conditions can be accurately predicted using our two-mass, two-impulse model, 2) impact forces, regardless of foot strike mechanics, can be accurately quantified from lower-limb motion and a fixed anatomical mass (0.08mb), and 3) runners maintain similar loading rates (ΔFvertical/Δtime) across footwear conditions by altering foot strike angle to regulate the duration of impact. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Here, we validate a two-mass, two-impulse model of running vertical ground reaction forces across four footwear thickness conditions (barefoot, minimal, thin, thick). Our model allows the impact portion of the impulse to be extracted from measured total ground reaction force-time patterns using motion data from the ankle. The gait adjustments observed across footwear conditions revealed that runners maintained similar loading rates across footwear conditions by altering foot strike angles to regulate the duration of impact.


2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Gustås ◽  
Christopher Johnston ◽  
Stig Drevemo

AbstractThe objective of the present study was to compare the hoof deceleration and ground reaction forces following impact on two different surfaces. Seven unshod Standardbreds were trotted by hand at 3.0–5.7 m s− 1 over a force plate covered by either of the two surfaces, sandpaper or a 1 cm layer of sand. Impact deceleration data were recorded from one triaxial accelerometer mounted on the fore- and hind hooves, respectively. Ground reaction force data were obtained synchronously from a force plate, sampled at 4.8 kHz. The differences between the two surfaces were studied by analysing representative deceleration and force variables for individual horses. The maximum horizontal peak deceleration and the loading rates of the vertical and the horizontal forces were significantly higher on sandpaper compared with the sand surface (P < 0.001). In addition, the initial vertical deceleration was significantly higher on sandpaper in the forelimb (P < 0.001). In conclusion, it was shown that the different qualities of the ground surface result in differences in the hoof-braking pattern, which may be of great importance for the strength of the distal horse limb also at slow speeds.


2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niell G. Elvin ◽  
Alex A. Elvin ◽  
Steven P. Arnoczky

Modern electronics allow for the unobtrusive measurement of accelerations outside the laboratory using wireless sensor nodes. The ability to accurately measure joint accelerations under unrestricted conditions, and to correlate them with jump height and landing force, could provide important data to better understand joint mechanics subject to real-life conditions. This study investigates the correlation between peak vertical ground reaction forces, as measured by a force plate, and tibial axial accelerations during free vertical jumping. The jump heights calculated from force-plate data and accelerometer measurements are also compared. For six male subjects participating in this study, the average coefficient of determination between peak ground reaction force and peak tibial axial acceleration is found to be 0.81. The coefficient of determination between jump height calculated using force plate and accelerometer data is 0.88. Data show that the landing forces could be as high as 8 body weights of the jumper. The measured peak tibial accelerations ranged up to 42 g. Jump heights calculated from force plate and accelerometer sensors data differed by less than 2.5 cm. It is found that both impact accelerations and landing forces are only weakly correlated with jump height (the average coefficient of determination is 0.12). This study shows that unobtrusive accelerometers can be used to determine the ground reaction forces experienced in a jump landing. Whereas the device also permitted an accurate determination of jump height, there was no correlation between peak ground reaction force and jump height.


1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy L. Greer ◽  
Joseph Hamill ◽  
Kevin R. Campbell

Ground reaction force patterns during walking were observed in 18 children 3 and 4 years of age. The children walked barefoot at a self-chosen walking pace. Selected variables representing the vertical, anteroposterior, and mediolateral force components were evaluated. The results indicated that children in this age range contact the ground with greater vertical force measures relative to body mass than do adults. In addition, the minimum vertical force was lower, the transition from braking to propulsion occurred earlier, and the mediolateral force excursions were higher than typically found in adults. When the children were divided into groups on the basis of sex, differences were observed between those groups. The boys exhibited a greater difference in the vertical peak forces, a lower minimum force, a greater braking force, and a higher mediolateral force excursion value. The results indicated that children display a different ground reaction force pattern than do adults and that differences between boys and girls may be observed as early as ages 3 and 4 years.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damiana A dos Santos ◽  
Claudiane A Fukuchi ◽  
Reginaldo K Fukuchi ◽  
Marcos Duarte

This article describes a public data set with the three-dimensional kinematics of the whole body and the ground reaction forces (with a dual force platform setup) of subjects standing still for 60 s in different conditions, in which the vision and the standing surface were manipulated. Twenty-seven young subjects and 22 old subjects were evaluated. The data set comprises a file with metadata plus 1,813 files with the ground reaction force (GRF) and kinematics data for the 49 subjects (three files for each of the 12 trials plus one file for each subject). The file with metadata has information about each subject’s sociocultural, demographic, and health characteristics. The files with the GRF have the data from each force platform and from the resultant GRF (including the center of pressure data). The files with the kinematics have the three-dimensional position of the 42 markers used for the kinematic model of the whole body and the 73 calculated angles. In this text, we illustrate how to access, analyze, and visualize the data set. All the data is available at Figshare (DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4525082 ), and a companion Jupyter Notebook (available at https://github.com/demotu/datasets ) presents the programming code to generate analyses and other examples.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damiana A dos Santos ◽  
Claudiane A Fukuchi ◽  
Reginaldo K Fukuchi ◽  
Marcos Duarte

This article describes a public data set with the three-dimensional kinematics of the whole body and the ground reaction forces (with a dual force platform setup) of subjects standing still for 60 s in different conditions, in which the vision and the standing surface were manipulated. Twenty-seven young subjects and 22 old subjects were evaluated. The data set comprises a file with metadata plus 1,813 files with the ground reaction force (GRF) and kinematics data for the 49 subjects (three files for each of the 12 trials plus one file for each subject). The file with metadata has information about each subject’s sociocultural, demographic, and health characteristics. The files with the GRF have the data from each force platform and from the resultant GRF (including the center of pressure data). The files with the kinematics have the three-dimensional position of the 42 markers used for the kinematic model of the whole body and the 73 calculated angles. In this text, we illustrate how to access, analyze, and visualize the data set. All the data is available at Figshare (DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4525082 ), and a companion Jupyter Notebook (available at https://github.com/demotu/datasets ) presents the programming code to generate analyses and other examples.


Author(s):  
Ian Abraham ◽  
ZhuoHua Shen ◽  
Justin Seipel

Despite the neuromechanical complexity underlying animal locomotion, the steady-state center-of-mass motions and ground reaction forces of animal running can be predicted by simple spring-mass models such as the canonical spring-loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) model. Such SLIP models have been useful for the fields of biomechanics and robotics in part because ground reaction forces are commonly measured and readily available for comparing with model predictions. To better predict the stability of running, beyond the canonical conservative SLIP model, more recent extensions have been proposed and investigated with hip actuation and linear leg damping (e.g., hip-actuated SLIP). So far, these attempts have gained improved prediction of the stability of locomotion but have led to a loss of the ability to accurately predict ground reaction forces. Unfortunately, the linear damping utilized in current models leads to an unrealistic prediction of damping force and ground reaction force with a large nonzero magnitude at touchdown (TD). Here, we develop a leg damping model that is bilinear in leg length and velocity in order to yield improved damping force and ground reaction force prediction. We compare the running ground reaction forces, small and large perturbation stability, parameter sensitivity, and energetic cost resulting from both the linear and bilinear damping models. We found that bilinear damping helps to produce more realistic, smooth vertical ground reaction forces, thus fixing the current problem with the linear damping model. Despite large changes in the damping force and power loss profile during the stance phase, the overall dynamics and energetics on a stride-to-stride basis of the two models are largely the same, implying that the integrated effect of damping over a stride is what matters most to the stability and energetics of running. Overall, this new model, an actuated SLIP model with bilinear damping, can provide significantly improved prediction of ground reaction forces as well as stability and energetics of locomotion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Alamäki ◽  
Elina Nevala ◽  
Juha Jalovaara ◽  
John Barton ◽  
Salvatore Tedesco ◽  
...  

Biomechanical analysis of gait is commonly used in physiotherapy. Ground reaction forces during phases of gait is one element of kinetic analysis. In this article, we analyze if the MoveSole® smart insole is valid and accurate equipment for measuring ground reaction forces in clinical physiotherapy. MoveSole® StepLab is a mobile measurement system for instant underfoot force measurements during gait. Unique electromagnetic film (EMFI) based sensor technology and printed electronics production technology is integrated in the MoveSole® StepLab measurement system. The MoveSole® StepLab measures plantar ground reaction force distribution over the sensors and provides an estimation of the maximum total ground reaction force. We developed a two phase validation process to extract relevant parameters and compared the results to a Kistler force plate using the BioWare® analyzing program as a reference method. Our results show that MoveSole® smart insoles reach the strong level of accuracy needed in clinical work concerning highest ground reaction forces during step (Pearson correlation .822 - .875). The correlation of the time when the maximum ground reaction force occurred was moderate, e.g. during heel strike or toe-off (Pearson correlation natural gait speed .351 - .462, maximum gait speed .430). Our conclusion is that MoveSole® smart insoles are a potential tool for analyzing and monitoring gait ground reaction forces during physiotherapy processes.


Author(s):  
Jocelyn E. Arnett ◽  
Cameron D. Addie ◽  
Ludmila M. Cosio-Lima ◽  
Lee E. Brown

Background: Landing is a common movement that occurs in many sports. Barefoot research has gained popularity in examining how shoes alter natural movements. However, it is unknown how a single leg landing under barefoot conditions, as well as landing height, affects ground reaction forces (GRF). Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine the differences in GRF during a single leg landing under barefoot and shod conditions from various heights. Methods: Sixteen female Division II collegiate athletes, 8 basketball (age: 19.88 ± 0.64 yrs; height: 1.77 ± 0.09 m; mass: 75.76 ± 12.97 kg) and 8 volleyball (age: 20.00 ± 1.07 yrs; height: 1.74 ± 0.08 m; mass: 72.41 ± 5.41 kg), performed single leg landings from 12, 18, 24, and 30 inches barefoot and shod. An AMTI AccuGait force plate was used to record GRF. A 2 (condition) x 4 (box height) x 2 (sport) repeated measures ANOVA was performed to determine any GRF differences. Results: There were no significant three way or two-way interactions (p > 0.05). There was also no main effect for sport (p > 0.05). There were main effects for footwear and box height (p = 0.000) where shod (2295.121 ± 66.025 N) had greater impact than barefoot (2090.233 ± 62.684 N). Conclusions: Single leg barefoot landings resulted in less vertical GRF than shod landings. This could be due to increased flexion at the joints which aids in force absorption.


2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Kinzey ◽  
Mitchell L. Cordova ◽  
Kevin J. Gallen ◽  
Jason C. Smith ◽  
Justin B. Moore

Objective:To determine whether a standard 20-min ice-bath (10°C) immersion of the leg alters vertical ground-reaction-force components during a 1 -legged vertical jump.Design:A 1 × 5 factorial repeated-measures model was used.Setting:The Applied Biomechanics Laboratory at The University of Mississippi.Participants:Fifteen healthy and physically active subjects (age = 22.3 ± 2.1 years, height = 177.3 ± 12.2 cm, mass = 76.3 ± 19.1 kg) participated.Intervention:Subjects performed 25 one-legged vertical jumps with their preferred extremity before (5 jumps) and after (20 jumps) a 20-min cold whirlpool to the leg. The 25 jumps were reduced into 5 sets of average trials.Main Outcome Measures:Normalized peak and average vertical ground-reaction forces, as well as vertical impulse obtained using an instrumented force platform.Results:Immediately after cryotherapy (sets 2 and 3), vertical impulse decreased (P= .01); peak vertical ground-reaction force increased (set 2) but then decreased toward baseline measures (P= .02). Average vertical ground-reaction force remained unchanged (P>.05).Conclusions:The authors advocate waiting approximately 15 min before engaging in activities that require the production of weight-bearing explosive strength or power.


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