Human Research
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Human Running studies (with R. Kram-UC Berkeley)
- what limits sprint speed on a curved track?
- what is the metabolic cost of generating horizontal forces?
- what are the biomechanical roles of gravity and inertia?
Basic studies: limb control during hopping
- motor redundancy (use of joint neuromechanical redundancy)
- compensation for joint loads (importance of the nature of loading)
- targeted foot placement (use of motor redundancy with targeting)
- rate-dependent control (leg control changes with rate of movement)
Extreme behaviors
- brachiating gibbons (with J. Bertram-Cornell)
- jumping vampire bats (with B. Schutt & J. Hermanson-Cornell)
- elephant locomotion (supporting J. Hutchinson-Royal Vet. College)
- waddling penguins (supporting T. Griffin & R. Kram-UC Berkeley)
Pathologies: lower leg amputation
- gait (gait compensation with a lower-limb amputation)
- gait initiation (control of gait initiation with a below-knee amputation)
Device development: orthoses
- slafo (experimental tool for applying joint loads during locomotion)
- aemgcfes (uses effected muscle’s emg to drive real-time control of fes)
- the “bullfrog” (bioinspired energy harvesting afo)
- exercise countermeasure for astronaut bone loss
- first multi-axis instrumented (force-measuring) treadmill
- 6-dof force-torque transducer for brachiation
- force platform for jumping bats
Comparative Research
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Basic studies
- locomotor compensation after injury (limb function preserved over joint function in three mammal species)
Extreme behaviors
- single-limb stance in flamingos (behavioral and morphological measurements, with L. Ting-Emory/GT)
- vaginal marking in golden hamsters (kinematics of scent-marking behavior, with A. Petrulis-GSU)
Device development
- accurate rodent kinematics via high-speed x-ray video (optical kinematics methods show large errors due to skin movement)
- hybrid isolated spinal cord-hindlimb preparation (spontaneous in vitro locomotion with biomechanics & electrophysiology, with S. Hochman-Emory)
Previous Thesis Projects
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- Robustness and hierarchical control of performance variables through coordination during human locomotion, Arick Auyang, 2010
- Influencing motor behavior through constraint of lower limb motion, Chris Hovorka, 2015
- Biomechanics and electrophysiology of sensory regulation during locomotion in a novel in vitro spinal cord-hindlimb preparation, Heather Hayes, 2010
- Force control during human bouncing gaits, Jasper Yen, 2011
- Injury compensation reveals implicit goals that guide locomotor coordination, Jay Bauman, 2013
- Adaptation of locomotor control in able and impaired human walking, Megan Toney, 2014