Introduction An inverse dynamics approach has been used to gain an insight into the mechanical behaviour of the plantar aponeurosis (PA) at different walking speeds. Mechanical [1] and finite element models [2] have evaluated its biomechanics in quasi static conditions. To our knowledge only one study has addressed the dynamic behaviour of the PA with relation to the Achilles tendon force [3]. ...

In this work, necessary conditions for the impulsive optimal control of multibody mechanical systems are stated. The conditions are obtained by the application subdifferential calculus techniques to extended-valued lower semi-continuous generalized Bolza functional that is evaluated on multiple intervals. Contrary to the approach in literature so far, the instant of possibly impulsive transitio...

A computational methodology for dynamic analysis of multibody mechanical systems with joint clearance is presented in this work. Clearances always exist in real joints in order to ensure the correct relative motion between the connected bodies being the gap associated to them a result of machining tolerance, wear, and local deformations. Clearance at different joints is the source for impact fo...

Brent Gillespie, Mark Cutkosky ABSTRACT The simulation of virtual environments which are multi-degreeof-freedom presents unique challenges to the designer of control software for haptic display devices. Once the successfully rendered stiffness, damping, and mass elements are interconnected to form multibody systems, a host of controller implementation choices arise. For one, the control law mus...

In this paper, the main goal is to present an experimental comparison of the two prevailing contact modeling approaches of the bipedal locomotion, i. e. rigid versus compliant contact model. To do this, first, an explicit dynamics model for the robot multibody with rigid model of contact for various phases of walking is developed. Then, in order to develop a model with compliant contact, a phys...