Science
Related: About this forumRatchet boots make walking 7% easier (BBC)
Last edited Sun Apr 5, 2015, 03:40 PM - Edit history (1)
Engineers have created unpowered exoskeleton "boots" that use a spring and a ratchet to make human walking 7% more efficient.
The boots mirror the action of the walker's calf muscle and Achilles tendon, saving energy and showing that there is room for improvement in our already very well-tuned gait.
Previous research had produced similar gains but only by using powered, pneumatic "muscles".
The new device is reported in Nature.
Senior author of the study, Dr Gregory Sawicki, from the joint biomedical engineering department of the University of North Carolina and NC State University, said the unpowered exoskeleton acted "like a catapult".
***
more: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32152602
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14288.html
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)shenmue
(38,506 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)Beautiful!
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)There have been stores on DARPA looking at both exoskeletal assistance and spring blades for infantry in the US
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)and I had to start checking the authors were real. And it does appear to be.
Warpy
(111,339 posts)Yeah, they look weird as hell but they made a huge difference when I was running on cement floors 12 hours a night.
IOW, this doesn't sound like a new idea, just a noisier one.
F4lconF16
(3,747 posts)We don't walk how we used to because of shoes. We evolved to walk toe-heel, but now (most of us) walk heel-toe. The human foot has a very complex network of tendons and other things to do exactly what this does: absorb and reflect energy. Shoes cushioned our foot, and things like boots in particular led to landing on our heels instead of our toes. Try walking in bare feet heel first, and then swap it around. I guarantee you will notice the difference.
I've seen a fair bit of research that suggests many common foot and leg ailments can be traces to this form of gait. I know that I walk toe first in very thin-profile running shoes. It looks odd compared to the normal gait, but I've noticed that my feet also have very strong, developed arches, which I rarely see on anyone else. I also run toe first--there is a very appreciable difference in the impact that my knees take. I firmly believe it is a healthier way to move. There's a similar idea reflected in the book "Born to Run" about running with the Tarahumara tribe in (I think) part of Mexico. They are renowned for being able to run for virtually forever, and I believe that this can be attributed to the way they run and their diet.
It looks like this device has a 7% efficiency gain over the heel-toe walk, which doesn't really impress me. They aren't improving on nature--they're catching up to a system that nature had already figured out a long time ago. I really can't stand the human ego contained in statements like "The boots mirror the action of the walker's calf muscle and Achilles tendon, saving energy and showing that there is room for improvement in our already very well-tuned gait".
Now, I admit I could be very wrong about all of this. But my experience, as well as simply examining the structure of the human foot, leads me to think that nature already had it right. Toe-heel walking is much more efficient, less harmful to our feet, knees, and legs, and results in fewer injuries.