Instrumented split-belt treadmill with VR functionality for human locomotion analysis

在日常生活和体育运动中，人类的运动动作对于成功完成任务至关重要。运动和运动科学研究所(IFSS)跨学科申请组的中心研究活动侧重于运动运动的控制和生物力学，这些运动如何受到训练和学习、肌肉骨骼疾病(如骨关节炎)或与年龄相关的退化过程和疾病(如痴呆症)的影响。此外，还讨论了人-技术交互领域的各种主题。例如，运动技术(如跑鞋)、医疗技术(如矫形器)或机器人部件(如外骨骼)对人类运动运动的控制和生物力学的影响。此外，还开展了生物标志物的研究，以早期识别严重超载情况。申请的大型研究装置是一台跑步机，它为IFSS提供了一个独特的研究环境，可以在生态有效的同时受控的条件下解决上述研究课题。特别值得注意的是跑步机的各种功能，如带有集成力测量单元的两个独立皮带；各种扰动选项；可在不同速度和倾角下以自行选择或预设的速度进行移动；虚拟现实(VR)功能，可在跑步机前的投影屏幕上针对不同的运动场景提供实时视觉反馈，与跑步机的运动(如倾斜和扰动)同步；与额外测量系统(如运动捕捉)进行时间同步整合，以及通过用于步态训练应用的投影屏幕实时显示生物力学变量。申请的跑步机通过一个可修改的系统软件集成和同步上述所有功能。因此，跑步机可以用于复杂的生物力学分析的实验中，并且在干预研究中是另外一种强大的训练设备。申请的跑步机完全符合IFSS现有的实验室基础设施(例如与现有动作捕捉系统的兼容性)。该设备使申请团队能够在人类运动的背景下解决新的跨学科研究问题。此外，它还支持在体育科学(如运动控制、生物力学和健康科学)、医学(如整形外科和生理学)以及计算机科学和工程(如机器人)的界面上，更好地整合国际科学联合会的教授和各种社会相关目标群体的工具包。

Human locomotion movements are of paramount importance for a successful task completion in everyday life and sports. Central research activities of the interdisciplinary applicant team from the Institute of Sports and Sports Science (IfSS) at KIT focus on the control and biomechanics of locomotion movements, how these are affected by training and learning, musculoskeletal disorders (e.g. osteoarthritis) or age-related degradation processes and diseases (e.g. dementia). In addition, various topics in the field of human-technology interaction are addressed. For example, the influence of sports technologies (e.g. running shoes), medical technologies (e.g. orthoses) or robotic components (e.g. exoskeletons) on the control and biomechanics of human locomotion movements. Moreover, research on biomarkers is conducted for early identification of critical overload situations. The large-scale research device applied for is a treadmill that offers the IfSS a unique research environment for addressing the above outlined research topics under ecologically valid and at the same time controlled conditions. Particularly noteworthy are the diverse functionalities of the treadmill, such as two separate belts with integrated force measurement units; various perturbation options; locomotion at different speeds and inclinations with self-selected or preset speed; a virtual reality (VR) functionality that provides real-time visual feedback for different movement scenarios on a projection screen in front of the treadmill, which is synchronized with the movements of the treadmill (e.g. inclines and perturbations); time-synchronous integration of additional measuring systems (e.g. motion capture) and the real-time display of biomechanical variables via a projection screen for gait training applications. The treadmill applied for integrates and synchronizes all the above-mentioned functionalities by a modifiable system software. Consequently, the treadmill can be used in experiments for complex biomechanical analysis and is additionally a powerful training device in the context of intervention studies. The treadmill applied for fits perfectly into the existing laboratory infrastructure at the IfSS (e.g. compatibility with the existing motion capture system). The device enables the applicant team to address new, cross-disciplinary research questions in the context of human locomotion. Furthermore, it supports a better integration of research between the professorships at IfSS and the KIT for various, socially relevant target groups at the interface of sports science (e.g., motor control, biomechanics and health sciences), medicine (e.g., orthopedics and physiology) as well as computer science and engineering (e.g., robotics).