CAREER: The Multi-functional Foot and its Role in Locomotor Control Across a Range of Complex Media

自然界充满了在撞击时以意想不到的方式变形和流动的表面。动物在运动过程中如何与这些表面相互作用可能对其生存至关重要。PI在过去十年中的研究表明，奔跑蜥蜴的脚具有惊人的多功能性，并且脚表面动力学和运动控制之间的关系比目前所认识的更为复杂。该奖项将支持研究，以探索当跑步穿过一系列材料时，脚的运动学和被动特性如何影响与地面的相互作用。这项研究将产生关于主动和被动控制机制在复杂介质上调谐脚-基底相互作用的作用的基础知识。这些研究的结果将影响研究人员看待脚在腿部运动中的作用的方式。这项研究提供了一个很好的起点，让儿童和公众参与整合生物学，物理学和材料科学的复杂概念。该奖项的教育目标是通过基于拟议研究结果的研究驱动课程的开发和传播，以及通过对当前和未来的科学教师进行基于探究的教学技术培训，提高中学生对科学的参与。最后，这些研究的结果将产生超越生物学的影响，包括移动的机器人的设计和驱动以及鲁棒的假肢设计。该奖项的研究目标是确定足部形态和冲击运动学如何影响足部与地面的相互作用。具体而言，这些研究将：（1）表征与在不同表面类型上跑步相关的运动学模式;（2）量化复杂介质中的脚-地面相互作用模式;以及（3）确定脚灵活性，几何形状和运动学的变化如何影响脚-地面相互作用。通过使用生物和物理实验技术的结合，这些研究的结果将解决广泛适用于不同类群的足部侵入动力学的一般原则。因此，我们的研究结果将刺激研究，探索足部形态保护和多样化的进化基础，以及足部表面相互作用的动态，将生物学与材料科学联系起来。 一系列的实验方法，包括X射线PIV，物理和数学建模，以及高速摄像将在研究过程中采用。 研究结果将通过在同行评审的期刊上发表文章和在科学会议上介绍来传播。

Nature is filled with surfaces that deform and flow in unexpected ways upon impact. How an animal interacts with these surfaces during locomotion can be critical to its survival. Research by the PI over the last decade reveals that the feet of running lizards are surprisingly multi-functional and that the relationship between foot-surface dynamics and the control of movement are more complicated than currently appreciated. This award will support studies to explore how kinematics and passive properties of the feet affect interactions with the ground when running across a range of materials. The research will generate fundamental knowledge about the role of active and passive control mechanisms in tuning foot-substrate interactions on complex media. The outcome of the studies will impact the way researchers view the role of the feet during legged locomotion. This research provides an excellent starting-point from which to engage children and the public in complex concepts that integrate biology, physics, and materials sciences. The educational objective of this award is to increase engagement of middle school students in science through the development and dissemination of research-driven curricula based on results from the proposed research studies, and by training current and future science teachers in inquiry-based pedagogical techniques. Finally, the research findings from these studies will have impacts reaching beyond biology, including the design and actuation of mobile robotics and robust prosthetic design.The research objective of this award is to determine how foot morphology and impact kinematics affect foot-ground interactions. Specifically, the studies will: (1) characterize the kinematic patterns associated with running across different surface types; (2) quantify the patterns of foot-ground interactions in complex media; and (3) determine how changes in foot flexibility, geometry, and kinematics affect foot-ground interactions. By using a combination of biological and physical experimental techniques, the results from these studies will address general principles of foot intrusion dynamics that are broadly applicable across diverse taxa. Consequently, our findings will stimulate research that explores the evolutionary basis of foot morphology conservation and diversification, and the dynamics of foot-surface interactions, linking biology with materials science. A range of experimental approaches, including X-Ray PIV, physical and mathematical modeling, and high-speed videography will be employed over the course of the studies. Results from the research will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals and through presentations at scientific meetings.