Angelidou Charikleia, Chambers Vaughn, Hobbs Bradley, Karakasis Chrysostomos, Artemiadis Panagiotis
University of Delaware, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
Sci Data. 2025 Jan 16;12(1):84. doi: 10.1038/s41597-025-04433-x.
Walking on compliant terrains, like carpets, grass, and soil, presents a unique challenge, especially for individuals with mobility impairments. In contrast to rigid-ground walking, compliant surfaces alter movement dynamics and increase the risk of falls. Understanding and modeling gait control across such soft and deformable surfaces is thus crucial for maintaining daily mobility. However, access to the necessary equipment for modeling compliant surface walking is limited. Therefore, in this paper, we present the first publicly available biomechanics dataset of 20 individuals walking on terrains of varying compliance, using a unique robotic device, the Variable Stiffness Treadmill 2 (VST 2), designed to simulate walking on adjustable compliant terrain. VST 2 provides a consistent and reproducible environment for studying the biomechanics of walking on such surfaces within laboratory settings. The goal of this dataset is to provide insights into the muscular, kinematic, and kinetic adaptations that occur when humans walk on compliant terrain in order to design better controllers for prosthetic limbs, improve rehabilitation protocols, and develop adaptive assistive devices that can enhance mobility on compliant surfaces.
在诸如地毯、草地和土壤等柔顺地形上行走带来了独特的挑战，尤其是对于行动不便的人。与在坚硬地面行走相比，柔顺表面会改变运动动力学并增加跌倒风险。因此，理解和建模在这种柔软且可变形表面上的步态控制对于维持日常行动能力至关重要。然而，用于建模柔顺表面行走的必要设备有限。因此，在本文中，我们展示了第一个公开可用的生物力学数据集，该数据集包含20名个体在不同柔顺度的地形上行走的情况，使用了一种独特的机器人设备——可变刚度跑步机2（VST 2），其设计目的是模拟在可调节柔顺地形上的行走。VST 2为在实验室环境中研究此类表面上行走的生物力学提供了一个一致且可重复的环境。该数据集的目标是深入了解人类在柔顺地形上行走时发生的肌肉、运动学和动力学适应性变化，以便为假肢设计更好的控制器、改进康复方案，并开发能够增强在柔顺表面上行动能力的自适应辅助设备。
