1P2-U04 Development of Musculoskeletal Gait Simulator for Analyzing Human Foot Function(Mobiligence and embodiment systems science)

Abstract

A human foot has a complex structure which consists of a flexible flesh and many muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. The complex structure is supposed to contribute to efficient and stable bipedal locomotion. Detailed behavior of the foot complex during walking, however, is not well unerstood. We built a musculoskeletal gait simulator driven by pneumatic artificial muscles in order to solve a mechanism of a human gait. We measured ground reaction force of the musculoskeletal gait simulator during the stance phase by using a force plate. This gait simulator's vertical ground reaction force has two high peaks like a human's.