Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement in Biomechanics

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Undergraduate students studying basic mechanical principles are able to observe the geometry of movements (kinematics) directly however, the internal and external forces and moments (kinetics) causing the motion are invisible. Real-time display of the kinematic and kinetic transducer data and muscle activation patterns (EMG) would allow students to actively modify kinetic inputs to the system and immediately visualize the complex interaction of internal and external forces responsible for human body motion. This project implements a previously developed and tested immediate kinetic feedback system (IKF) that provides real-time overlay of transducer signals directly onto video images. Examination of selected transducer data simultaneously sampled and recorded onto video tape enables students to visualize mechanical relationships immediately during realistic human interactions with the environment. A centrally located digitizing station enables students to acquire selected quantitative data independently from the video images created during laboratory experimentation. Supplemental information from other video based sources may also be analyzed to provide a basis of comparison. So that the majority of the laboratory time is devoted to discovery rather than data management, digitizing, processing, and presentation of experimental data are being streamlined using custom programs. CD-ROMs, video tapes, and lab manuals developed from this project enable students studying mechanics in other institutions without the required instrumentation, to observe cause-effect relationships governing movement directly.