THE FORCE-DRIVEN HARMONIC-OSCILLATOR AS A MODEL FOR HUMAN LOCOMOTION

The study was conducted to determine whether the preferred frequency of locomotion was predictable as the least amount of energy required to drive a harmonic oscillator. Subjects were instructed to walk at a preferred rate under conditions where their ankles were unloaded and bilaterally loaded. These results were compared to the frequency which was predicted from the formula for a force-driven harmonic oscillator. The length of a simple pendulum equivalent of the lower extremity (thigh, shank, foot, and added mass) was used to approximate the length of the oscillator for prediction purposes. Results indicated that a constant of 2 applied to the gravitational constant of the period prediction formula provided a more accurate representation of the actual frequency. Similar results have been found in the walking gait of quadrupeds of widely varying sizes (Kugler and Turvey 1987). © 1990.