scholarly journals Estimation of leg stiffness using an approximation to the planar spring–mass system in high-speed running

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 172988141989071
Author(s):  
Wei Guo ◽  
Changrong Cai ◽  
Mantian Li ◽  
Fusheng Zha ◽  
Pengfei Wang ◽  
...  

Leg stiffness plays a critical role in legged robots’ speed regulation. However, the analytic solutions to the differential equations of the stance phase do not exist, of course not for the exact analytical solution of stiffness. In view of the challenge in dealing with every circumstance by numerical methods, which have been adopted to tabulate approximate answers, the “harmonic motion model” was used as approximation of the stance phase. However, the wide range leg sweep angles and small fluctuations of the “center of mass” in fast movement were overlooked. In this article, we raise a “triangle motion model” with uniform forward speed, symmetric movement, and straight-line center of mass trajectory. The characters are then shifted to a quadratic equation by Taylor expansion and obtain an approximate analytical solution. Both the numerical simulation and ADAMS-Matlab co-simulation of the control system show the accuracy of the triangle motion model method in predicting leg stiffness even in the ultra-high-speed case, and it is also adaptable to low-speed cases. The study illuminates the relationship between leg stiffness and speed, and the approximation model of the planar spring–mass system may serve as an analytical tool for leg stiffness estimation in high-speed locomotion.

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Hobara ◽  
Koh Inoue ◽  
Yoshiyuki Kobayashi ◽  
Toru Ogata

Despite the presence of several different calculations of leg stiffness during hopping, little is known about how the methodologies produce differences in the leg stiffness. The purpose of this study was to directly compareKlegduring hopping as calculated from three previously published computation methods. Ten male subjects hopped in place on two legs, at four frequencies (2.2, 2.6, 3.0, and 3.4 Hz). In this article, leg stiffness was calculated from the natural frequency of oscillation (method A), the ratio of maximal ground reaction force (GRF) to peak center of mass displacement at the middle of the stance phase (method B), and an approximation based on sine-wave GRF modeling (method C). We found that leg stiffness in all methods increased with an increase in hopping frequency, butKlegvalues using methods A and B were significantly higher than when using method C at all hopping frequencies. Therefore, care should be taken when comparing leg stiffness obtained by method C with those calculated by other methods.


1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (21) ◽  
pp. 2935-2944 ◽  
Author(s):  
C R Lee ◽  
C T Farley

Walking is often modeled as an inverted pendulum system in which the center of mass vaults over the rigid stance limb. Running is modeled as a simple spring-mass system in which the center of mass bounces along on the compliant stance limb. In these models, differences in stance-limb behavior lead to nearly opposite patterns of vertical movements of the center of mass in the two gaits. Our goal was to quantify the importance of stance-limb behavior and other factors in determining the trajectory of the center of mass during walking and running. We collected kinematic and force platform data during human walking and running. Virtual stance-limb compression (i.e. reduction in the distance between the point of foot-ground contact and the center of mass during the first half of the stance phase) was only 26% lower for walking (0.091 m) than for running (0.123 m) at speeds near the gait transition speed. In spite of this relatively small difference, the center of mass moved upwards by 0.031 m during the first half of the stance phase during walking and moved downwards by 0.073 m during the first half of the stance phase during running. The most important reason for this difference was that the stance limb swept through a larger angle during walking (30.4 degrees) than during running (19.2 degrees). We conclude that stance-limb touchdown angle and virtual stance-limb compression both play important roles in determining the trajectory of the center of mass and whether a gait is a walk or a run.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray-Qing Lin ◽  
Susan Brewton ◽  
George S. Hazen ◽  
Damien Bretall

The high-speed Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) is one of the key forms of transportation for the U.S. Navy in littoral regions. This planing craft, shown in Figure 1, is a lightweight, high-performance, high-capacity boat. It is constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The flexible tubes maintain a high buoyancy to avoid capsize in bad seas and to better absorb heavy loads. When the RHIB maneuvers in a seas state greater than 2, however, it often gets off plane or jumps to an entirely different heading regardless of the craft speed and heading relative to the direction of wave propagation. This behavior may cause the planing boat to miss its target track and veer off course. Furthermore, if a RHIB is supporting shore facilities or large ships transporting troops, the deviations and jumps may also impact the safety of the troops. In order to shine a light on improving the RHIB planing craft design for better performance at higher sea states, this study used a fully-nonlinear ship motion model named the Digital Self consistent Ship Experimental Laboratory (DiSSEL) by Lin and Kuang (2011a and 2011b) as a numerical tool to examine the dynamic balance of a six-degree-freedom (6DOF) RHIB. First the RHIB is maneuvered in Seas State 2, then in Seas State 3. The results of the simulation serve to better understand the underlying physics that cause dynamics instability at higher sea states. This study also serves to validate the accuracy of the DiSSEL ship motion model with observational data of a 10-meter long RHIB at Seas State 2. The model shows good agreement with experimental data in all headings and with a wide range of boat speeds (up to Froude number of 1.265).


1993 ◽  
Vol 185 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. T. Farley ◽  
J. Glasheen ◽  
T. A. McMahon

Trotting and hopping animals use muscles, tendons and ligaments to store and return elastic energy as they bounce along the ground. We examine how the musculoskeletal spring system operates at different speeds and in animals of different sizes. We model trotting and hopping as a simple spring-mass system which consists of a leg spring and a mass. We find that the stiffness of the leg spring (k(leg)) is nearly independent of speed in dogs, goats, horses and red kangaroos. As these animals trot or hop faster, the leg spring sweeps a greater angle during the stance phase, and the vertical excursion of the center of mass during the ground contact phase decreases. The combination of these changes to the spring system causes animals to bounce off the ground more quickly at higher speeds. Analysis of a wide size range of animals (0.1-140 kg) at equivalent speeds reveals that larger animals have stiffer leg springs (k(leg) [symbol: see text] M0.67, where M is body mass), but that the angle swept by the leg spring is nearly independent of body mass. As a result, the resonant period of vertical vibration of the spring-mass system is longer in larger animals. The length of time that the feet are in contact with the ground increases with body mass in nearly the same way as the resonant period of vertical vibration.


Author(s):  
E.D. Wolf

Most microelectronics devices and circuits operate faster, consume less power, execute more functions and cost less per circuit function when the feature-sizes internal to the devices and circuits are made smaller. This is part of the stimulus for the Very High-Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) program. There is also a need for smaller, more sensitive sensors in a wide range of disciplines that includes electrochemistry, neurophysiology and ultra-high pressure solid state research. There is often fundamental new science (and sometimes new technology) to be revealed (and used) when a basic parameter such as size is extended to new dimensions, as is evident at the two extremes of smallness and largeness, high energy particle physics and cosmology, respectively. However, there is also a very important intermediate domain of size that spans from the diameter of a small cluster of atoms up to near one micrometer which may also have just as profound effects on society as “big” physics.


Author(s):  
Vijaya Ramadas Mandala

The main contention of Shooting a Tiger is that hunting during the colonial period was not merely a recreational activity, but a practice intimately connected with imperial governance. The book positions shikar or hunting at the heart of colonial rule by demonstrating that, for the British in India, it served as a political, practical, and symbolic apparatus in the consolidation of power and rule during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book analyses early colonial hunting during the Company period, and then surveys different aspects of hunting during the high imperial decades in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book draws upon an impressive array of archival material and uses a wide range of evidence to support its contentions. It examines hunting at a variety of social and ethnic levels—military, administrative, elite, princely India, Indian professional hunters, and in terms of Indian auxiliaries and (sometimes) resisters. It also deals with different geographical contexts—the plains, the mountains, north and south India. The exclusive privilege of hunting exercised by the ruling classes, following colonial forest legislation, continued to be extended to the Indian princes who played a critical role in sustaining the lavish hunts that became the hallmark of the late nineteenth-century British Raj. Hunting was also a way of life in colonial India, undertaken by officials and soldiers alike alongside their everyday duties, necessary for their mental sustenance and vital for the smooth operation of the colonial administration. There are also two final chapters on conservation, particularly the last chapter focusing on two British hunter-turned-conservationists, Jim Corbett and Colonel Richard Burton.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric J Snider ◽  
Lauren E Cornell ◽  
Brandon M Gross ◽  
David O Zamora ◽  
Emily N Boice

ABSTRACT Introduction Open-globe ocular injuries have increased in frequency in recent combat operations due to increased use of explosive weaponry. Unfortunately, open-globe injuries have one of the worst visual outcomes for the injured warfighter, often resulting in permanent loss of vision. To improve visual recovery, injuries need to be stabilized quickly following trauma, in order to restore intraocular pressure and create a watertight seal. Here, we assess four off-the-shelf (OTS), commercially available tissue adhesives for their ability to seal military-relevant corneal perforation injuries (CPIs). Materials and Methods Adhesives were assessed using an anterior segment inflation platform and a previously developed high-speed benchtop corneal puncture model, to create injuries in porcine eyes. After injury, adhesives were applied and injury stabilization was assessed by measuring outflow rate, ocular compliance, and burst pressure, followed by histological analysis. Results Tegaderm dressings and Dermabond skin adhesive most successfully sealed injuries in preliminary testing. Across a range of injury sizes and shapes, Tegaderm performed well in smaller injury sizes, less than 2 mm in diameter, but inadequately sealed large or complex injuries. Dermabond created a watertight seal capable of maintaining ocular tissue at physiological intraocular pressure for almost all injury shapes and sizes. However, application of the adhesive was inconsistent. Histologically, after removal of the Dermabond skin adhesive, the corneal epithelium was removed and oftentimes the epithelium surface penetrated into the wound and was adhered to inner stromal tissue. Conclusions Dermabond can stabilize a wide range of CPIs; however, application is variable, which may adversely impact the corneal tissue. Without addressing these limitations, no OTS adhesive tested herein can be directly translated to CPIs. This highlights the need for development of a biomaterial product to stabilize these injuries without causing ocular damage upon removal, thus improving the poor vision prognosis for the injured warfighter.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Fuchun Yang ◽  
Dianrui Wang

Vibration properties of high-speed rotating and revolving planet rings with discrete and partially distributed stiffnesses were studied. The governing equations were obtained by Hamilton’s principle based on a rotating frame on the ring. The governing equations were cast in matrix differential operators and discretized, using Galerkin’s method. The eigenvalue problem was dealt with state space matrix, and the natural frequencies and vibration modes were computed in a wide range of rotation speed. The properties of natural frequencies and vibration modes with rotation speed were studied for free planet rings and planet rings with discrete and partially distributed stiffnesses. The influences of several parameters on the vibration properties of planet rings were also investigated. Finally, the forced responses of planet rings resulted from the excitation of rotating and revolving movement were studied. The results show that the revolving movement not only affects the free vibration of planet rings but results in excitation to the rings. Partially distributed stiffness changes the vibration modes heavily compared to the free planet ring. Each vibration mode comprises several nodal diameter components instead of a single component for a free planet ring. The distribution area and the number of partially distributed stiffnesses mainly affect the high-order frequencies. The forced responses caused by revolving movement are nonlinear and vary with a quasi-period of rotating speed, and the responses in the regions supported by partially distributed stiffnesses are suppressed.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3679
Author(s):  
Dingkui Tian ◽  
Junyao Gao ◽  
Xuanyang Shi ◽  
Yizhou Lu ◽  
Chuzhao Liu

The highly dynamic legged jumping motion is a challenging research topic because of the lack of established control schemes that handle over-constrained control objectives well in the stance phase, which are coupled and affect each other, and control robot’s posture in the flight phase, in which the robot is underactuated owing to the foot leaving the ground. This paper introduces an approach of realizing the cyclic vertical jumping motion of a planar simplified legged robot that formulates the jump problem within a quadratic-programming (QP)-based framework. Unlike prior works, which have added different weights in front of control tasks to express the relative hierarchy of tasks, in our framework, the hierarchical quadratic programming (HQP) control strategy is used to guarantee the strict prioritization of the center of mass (CoM) in the stance phase while split dynamic equations are incorporated into the unified quadratic-programming framework to restrict the robot’s posture to be near a desired constant value in the flight phase. The controller is tested in two simulation environments with and without the flight phase controller, the results validate the flight phase controller, with the HQP controller having a maximum error of the CoM in the x direction and y direction of 0.47 and 0.82 cm and thus enabling the strict prioritization of the CoM.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 3143
Author(s):  
Sergey E. Parfenyev ◽  
Sergey V. Shabelnikov ◽  
Danila Y. Pozdnyakov ◽  
Olga O. Gnedina ◽  
Leonid S. Adonin ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignant neoplasm and the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition (EMT) plays a critical role in the organism development, providing cell migration and tissue formation. However, its erroneous activation in malignancies can serve as the basis for the dissemination of cancer cells and metastasis. The Zeb1 transcription factor, which regulates the EMT activation, has been shown to play an essential role in malignant transformation. This factor is involved in many signaling pathways that influence a wide range of cellular functions via interacting with many proteins that affect its transcriptional functions. Importantly, the interactome of Zeb1 depends on the cellular context. Here, using the inducible expression of Zeb1 in epithelial breast cancer cells, we identified a substantial list of novel potential Zeb1 interaction partners, including proteins involved in the formation of malignant neoplasms, such as ATP-dependent RNA helicase DDX17and a component of the NURD repressor complex, CTBP2. We confirmed the presence of the selected interactors by immunoblotting with specific antibodies. Further, we demonstrated that co-expression of Zeb1 and CTBP2 in breast cancer patients correlated with the poor survival prognosis, thus signifying the functionality of the Zeb1–CTBP2 interaction.


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