Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Connecting the legs with a spring improves human running economy

Cole S. Simpson, Cara G. Welker, Scott D. Uhlrich, Sean M. Sketch, Rachel W. Jackson, Scott L. Delp, Steve H. Collins, Jessica C. Selinger, Elliot W. Hawkes
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/474650
Cole S. Simpson
1Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Cara G. Welker
1Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
2Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Scott D. Uhlrich
1Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sean M. Sketch
1Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rachel W. Jackson
2Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Scott L. Delp
1Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
2Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Steve H. Collins
1Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jessica C. Selinger
2Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
3Queens University, Department of Kinesiology, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: ewhawkes@ucsb.edu j.selinger@queensu.ca
Elliot W. Hawkes
4University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: ewhawkes@ucsb.edu j.selinger@queensu.ca
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Spring-like tissues attached to the swinging legs of animals are thought to improve running economy by simply reducing the effort of leg swing. Here we show that a spring, or ‘exotendon,’ connecting the legs of a human runner improves economy instead through a more complex mechanism that produces savings during both swing and stance. The spring increases the energy optimal stride frequency; when runners adopt this new gait pattern, savings occur in both phases of gait. Remarkably, the simple device improves running economy by 6.4 ± 2.8%, comparable to savings achieved by motorized assistive robotics that directly target the costlier stance phase of gait. Our results highlight the importance of considering both the dynamics of the body and the adaptive strategies of the user when designing systems that couple human and machine.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted December 20, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Connecting the legs with a spring improves human running economy
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Connecting the legs with a spring improves human running economy
Cole S. Simpson, Cara G. Welker, Scott D. Uhlrich, Sean M. Sketch, Rachel W. Jackson, Scott L. Delp, Steve H. Collins, Jessica C. Selinger, Elliot W. Hawkes
bioRxiv 474650; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/474650
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Connecting the legs with a spring improves human running economy
Cole S. Simpson, Cara G. Welker, Scott D. Uhlrich, Sean M. Sketch, Rachel W. Jackson, Scott L. Delp, Steve H. Collins, Jessica C. Selinger, Elliot W. Hawkes
bioRxiv 474650; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/474650

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Physiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3609)
  • Biochemistry (7590)
  • Bioengineering (5533)
  • Bioinformatics (20833)
  • Biophysics (10347)
  • Cancer Biology (7998)
  • Cell Biology (11663)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6619)
  • Ecology (10227)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13647)
  • Genetics (9557)
  • Genomics (12860)
  • Immunology (7932)
  • Microbiology (19575)
  • Molecular Biology (7678)
  • Neuroscience (42193)
  • Paleontology (309)
  • Pathology (1259)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2208)
  • Physiology (3272)
  • Plant Biology (7064)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1295)
  • Synthetic Biology (1953)
  • Systems Biology (5435)
  • Zoology (1119)