A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Endo, Ken, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other Authors: Hugh Herr.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75633
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author Endo, Ken, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author2 Hugh Herr.
author_facet Hugh Herr.
Endo, Ken, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author_sort Endo, Ken, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012.
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spelling mit-1721.1/756332019-04-12T09:28:26Z A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking Endo, Ken, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hugh Herr. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-113). In order to motivate the design of legged machines that walk as humans do, this thesis investigates how leg muscles and tendons work mechanically during level-ground human walking at self-selected speeds. I hypothesize that quasi- passive, series-elastic clutch units spanning the knee joint in a musculoskeletal arrangement can capture the dominant mechanical behaviors of the human knee in level-ground walking. As a preliminary evaluation of this hypothesis, I develop an under-actuated model of the human leg in walking where each muscle-tendon unit spanning the knee joint is represented as a simple linear spring in series with a clutch. I vary model parameters, or spring constants and clutch engagement times, using an optimization scheme that minimizes ankle and hip actuator work while still maintaining human-like knee mechanics. For model evaluation, kinetic and kinematic gait data are employed from nine participants walking across a level-ground surface at self-selected gait speeds. With this under-actuated leg model, I find good agreement between model quasi-passive knee torque and experimental knee values, suggesting that a knee actuator is not necessary for level-ground robotic ambulation at self-selected gait speeds. As a further evaluation of the hypothesis of spring-like muscle-tendon behavior about the knee joint, a forward dynamics control scheme for the under-actuated model is developed. Hill-type muscle models are employed to model the ankle soleus and hip monoarticular muscles. Further, the model's series-elastic clutches are engaged with a simple state machine based on electromyography (EMG) data from the literature. Muscles are controlled with simple feedback controls representing the reflexive architecture of the human neuromuscular system. Following an optimization procedure, the model is shown to predict joint and muscle biomechanics, as well as the metabolism of walking humans, supporting the idea that muscle-tendon units spanning the human knee joint mainly operate as spring elements during neural activation, affording the relatively high metabolic walking economy of humans. by Ken Endo. Ph.D. 2012-12-13T18:47:47Z 2012-12-13T18:47:47Z 2012 2012 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75633 818209216 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 113 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Endo, Ken, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking
title A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking
title_full A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking
title_fullStr A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking
title_full_unstemmed A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking
title_short A model of muscle-tendon function in human walking
title_sort model of muscle tendon function in human walking
topic Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75633
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