Effects of military load carriage on kinematics of gait

Manual load carriage is a universal activity and an inevitable part of the daily schedule of a soldier. Indian Infantry soldiers carry loads on the waist, back, shoulders and in the hands for a marching order. There is no reported study on the effects of load on gait in this population. It is important to evaluate their kinematic responses to existing load carriage operations and to provide guidelines towards the future design of heavy military backpacks (BPs) for optimising soldiers' performance. Kinematic changes of gait parameters in healthy male infantry soldiers whilst carrying no load (NL) and military loads of 4.2–17.5 kg (6.5–27.2% body weight) were investigated. All comparisons were conducted at a self-selected speed. Soldier characteristics were: mean (SD) age 23.3 (2.6) years; height 172.0 (3.8) cm; weight 64.3 (7.4) kg. Walk trials were collected using a 3-D Motion Analysis System. Results were subjected to one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett post hoc test. There were increases in step length, stride length, cadence and midstance with the addition of a load compared to NL. These findings were resultant of an adaptive phenomenon within the individual to counterbalance load effect along with changes in speed. Ankle and hip ranges of motion (ROM) were significant. The ankle was more dorsiflexed, the knee and hip were more flexed during foot strike and helped in absorption of the load. The trunk showed more forward leaning with the addition of a load to adjust the centre of mass of the body and BP system back to the NL condition. Significant increases in ankle and hip ROM and trunk forward inclination (≥10°) with lighter loads, such as a BP (10.7 kg), BP with rifle (14.9 kg) and BP with a light machine gun (17.5 kg), may cause joint injuries. It is concluded that the existing BP needs design improvisation specifically for use in low intensity conflict environments.

Statement of Relevance:The present study evaluates spatial, temporal and angular changes at trunk and limb joints during military load carriage of relatively lighter magnitude. Studies on similar aspects on the specific population are limited. These data can be used for optimising load carriage and designing ensembles, especially a heavy BP, for military operations.     

The effects of horizontal load speed and lifting frequency on lifting technique and biomechanics

Lifting loads that have a horizontal velocity (e.g. lifting from a conveyor) is often seen in industry and it was hypothesised that the inertial characteristics of these loads may influence lifting technique and low back stress. Seventeen male participants were asked to perform lifting tasks under conditions of four horizontal load speeds (0 m/s, 0.7 m/s, 1.3 m/s and 2.4 m/s) and two lifting frequencies (10 and 20 lifts/min) while trunk motions and trunk muscle activation levels were monitored. Results revealed that increasing horizontal load speed from 0 m/s to 2.4 m/s resulted in an increase in peak sagittal angle (73° vs. 81°) but lower levels of peak sagittal plane angular acceleration (480°/s² vs. 4°/s²) and peak transverse plane angular acceleration (200°/s per s vs. 140°/s per s) and a consistent increase in trunk muscle co-activation. Participants used the inertia of the load to reduce the peak dynamics of the lifting motion at a cost of increased trunk flexion and higher muscle activity.

Statement of Relevance: Conveyors are ubiquitous in industry and understanding the effects of horizontal load speed on the lifting motions performed by workers lifting items from these conveyors may provide some insight into low back injury risk posed by these tasks.     

Hand-hold location and trunk kinematics during box handling

Trunk kinematics variables have been shown to be related to low back injury risk during lifting tasks and it was hypothesised that changes in hand-hold positions could influence trunk kinematics and thereby risk. Fourteen subjects lifted a 5 or 10 kg box using four different hand placement locations (two symmetric and two asymmetric) while their trunk kinematics (position, velocity and acceleration in the sagittal, coronal and transverse planes) were captured using the lumbar motion monitor (LMM). These kinematics data were then used to calculate the probability of high risk group membership (PHRGM) as defined in the LMM risk assessment model. The results showed significant effects of hand placement on trunk kinematics, resulting in significant changes in the PHRGM variable ranging from a low of 20% in a the symmetric low load condition to a high of 38% under the asymmetric, 10 kg condition.

Statement of Relevance: Manual materials handlers use a variety of hand-hold positions on boxes during lifting. Where a lifter grabs the box can influence the trunk kinematics during the lifting task and these kinematics have been shown to provide some insight into risk of low back injury. This study documents the trunk postures and kinematics as a function of hand-hold position.     

Differentiating slip-induced falls from normal walking and successful recovery after slips using kinematic measures

Slip-induced falls are prevalent and serious in occupational settings. Fall detection can minimise the adverse consequences caused by falls. However, a limitation in the existing fall detection research is that the fall indicators were predetermined without any theoretical and experimental basis. This study aimed to determine the optimal fall indicators for fall detection research by experimentally examining a comprehensive set of kinematic measures. The body kinematic measures were compared among normal walking, successful recovery after slips and slip-induced falls. We identified the kinematic measures that differ between falls and the selected non-fall activities (i.e. successful recovery and normal walking), especially at the early stage of loss-of-balance due to slips. Findings obtained from this study can enhance the understanding of kinematic differences between slip-induced falls and non-fall activities, and such knowledge is particularly useful for developing fall detection models.

Practitioner Summary: Slips have been reported to be a major cause of accidental falls. Findings from this study can help determine the kinematic measures that can effectively and efficiently differentiate slip-induced falls from successful recovery and normal walking. Such knowledge can help develop effective strategies to prevent slip-induced falls.     

6自由度装校机器人逆解的确定

为了实现对自主研发的6自由度装校机器人的精确控制,提出了一种机器人的逆解确定方法。通过D-H(Denavit-hartenberg matrix)法建立机器人各连杆的参考坐标系获得D-H参数,推导出机器人的运动学正解并采用解析法求得运动学逆解。基于作业时间最优的思想,采用在X-Y平面末端定域方法从多组逆解中确定出一组运动学逆解。运动学逆解可以用于机械臂末端执行器的精确定位和运动规划,为实现机器人的轨迹规划及实时控制等提供了理论基础。     

基于6-DOF解耦操作臂的空间遥操作控制及运动学分析

针对由6-DOF解耦操作臂及其末端手爪组成的操作臂系统,设计了符合工程实际的遥操作控制策略,并提出了一种简单的运动学解算方法.采用Motoman工业操作臂,对提出的方法进行了实验验证.实验结果证明了所提方法的可行性.     

直蚌线发动机动力学仿真研究

探讨了刚柔结合多体机械系统动力学仿真的方法,利用SOLIDWORKS,AD-AMS,COSMOSMOTION,三种软件,建立了直蚌线发动机虚拟样机模型,通过动态仿真计算,得到了该发动机的主要运动部件的运动规律;在此基础上,结合ANSYS软件,以柔性前曲轴和后曲轴分别代替刚性前曲轴和后曲轴,再次仿真计算,得到了这两个关键部件在周期性作用力作用下的危险时刻,危险部位,为该发动机的进一步精确的优化提供了依据.     

Kinematic Analysis of Mobile Manipulator for Measurement and Maintenance in Dangerous Environment

This paper studies the kinematic modeling of a mobile manipulator that consists of 5-DOF manipulator and an autonomous wheeled mobile platform.Then an artificial neural network to realize the coordination motion between manipulator and mobile platform is developed.On the basis of the task specifications,the algorithm determines the appropriate control variables to respond to the well tracking trajectory.The control strategy employed for either subsystem is achieved by using a robust supervised controller.A learning paradigm is used to produce the required reference variables for an overall cooperative behavior of the sys- tem.Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of this approach.     

论计算运动学在机构理论中的作用

简述了计算运动学的发展过程，论述了计算运动学的基础理论，并利用两个实例展现了计算运动学在机构运动分析中的作用。最后以转向机构综合为例，对比传统综合方法和现代计算运动学方法的特点。结果表明：计算运动学方法在寻找所有解，精度和系统性等方面具有较大的优势。     

两栖仿生机器蟹行走过程运动学研究

螃蟹具有8足步行机特征，在行走过程中，每条腿都是抬起和着地两种状态交替变化，抬起的腿从躯体上看是开链机构，相当串联手臂．而同时着地的腿与躯体构成并联多闭链多自由度机构．这种行走过程，从机构学角度看就是不同分支并联机构及串联开链机构之间的不断变化的复合型机构．针对这种机构我们采用串并联综合分析的方法，提出运动学算法及计算机仿真验证方法．通过计算机仿真验证了该方法分析结果的正确性，得出了一种用于仿生机器蟹行走过程运动学研究的行之有效的分析方法．