Two-Dimensional Mechanical Model of Human Stability in External Force-Caused Fall

Abstract

The paper proposes a two-dimensional model of human stability. The model allows for gaining data on forces and moments of forces being the effect of musculoskeletal interactions of body parts at human joints. The necessary input data are registered with the use of an optoelectronic motion capture system, two force plates, and a dynamometer. The latter measures the magnitude of the external force that is randomly applied to cause a backward fall. Therefore, the position of the participant’s body during the experiment, the external force used to cause the fall, and the ground reaction forces are known. The model proposed has the structure of a closed kinematic chain with one loop and two open subchains and uses the Euler–Newton approach to analyse the motion. In addition to external loads, linear and angular accelerations are also needed. To calculate those, we used a variant of approximation. This consists in carrying out a simultaneous approximation of a given function and its first and second derivatives in the subintervals that shift along the whole data range. The experiments conducted include two activities while maintaining a state of equilibrium and the fall itself. This gives the basis for examining whether the internal forces and moments at human joints differ significantly in both these states. The results and conclusions are discussed in the final part of the paper.