Slope-related differences in hindlimb movements and activation of the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles were studied during treadmill locomotion in intact rats and in rats 4 and 10 weeks following transection and surgical repair of the sciatic nerve. In intact rats, the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles were activated reciprocally at all slopes, and the overall intensity of activity in ti...

This thesis demonstrates the successful application of Virtual Model Control (VMC) to a simulated sevenlink planar biped for walking dynamically and steadily over sloped terrain with unknown slope gradients and transition locations. The slope gradients were assumed to be between ± 20; and it had maximum transitional gradient change of less than 20 per step. The developed algorithm for sloped te...

This thesis demonstrates the successful application of Virtual Model Control (VMC) to a simulated sevenlink planar biped for walking dynamically and steadily over sloped terrain with unknown slope gradients and transition locations. The slope gradients were assumed to be between ± 200; and it had maximum transitional gradient change of less than 200 per step. The developed algorithm for sloped ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of transversely sloped ballasted walking surface on gait and rearfoot motion (RFM) parameters. Motion analysis was performed with 20 healthy participants (15 male and 5 female) walking in six surface-slope conditions: two surfaces (solid and ballasted) by three slopes (0, 5, and 10 degrees). The gait parameters (walking velocity, step len...

This study focuses on the passive dynamic walking to enable a biped robot on level ground to walk efficiently with simple mechanisms. To build an efficient bipedal robot, utilizing the dynamical property of the robot system is a useful approach. McGeer studied passivedynamic walking, and showed a biped robot without actuators and controllers can walk stably down a shallow slope in simulations a...

In this communication, hexapod tripod gaits for straightline motion and crab walking are derived. Mathematical relations that express the stability margin, the stride length, and the duty factor are formulated for straight-line motion and for crab walking, respectively. The derived results provide tripod gaits of the hexapod for walking with a prescribed stability margin either over perfect ter...

Abstruct-This paper describes the simulation of stairs on a treadmill style locomotion interface using torso force feedback. The active mechanical tether of the Sarcos Treadport locomotion interface applies a specialized force profile to simulate the forces of stair walking. The biomechanics of subjects walking on real stairs versus walking under the specialized force prolile were compared. It ...

Several studies have reported data for human walking at various slope angles (Tohuhiro et al., 1985; Redfern et al, 1997), but few present data at steeper slope conditions both up and down. In experiments using animal models, for example, having cats walk at slope conditions between 100% upslope and 100% downslope, it was reported that ankle extensor muscles displayed different behaviors during...