Human locomotion in space analyzed biomechanically through a multi-link chain model.

Abstract An essential problem of biomechanics, namely, that of determining the moments arising at the major joints of the human skeleton during three-dimensional motions, has been analyzed through the use of a 15-link chain model of the human body. A brief account of the work is given in this paper. The solution is based on the equations of three-dimensional rigid body dynamics, referred to sets of axes embedded into each movable link. These equations are solved successively for each of the links, beginning with those with ‘free’ ends. The authors feel that if the moments required for given motions can be calculated, then a considerable contribution will be made to the development of anthropomorphic robots, and progress achieved in the rehabilitation of invalids and the study of movement in the presence of pathological conditions.