Research of 6-DOF Serial-Parallel Mechanism Platform for Stability Training of Legged-Walking Robot

The concept of legged-robot stability training with a training platform is proposed and a serial-parallel mechanism platform with 6 degrees of freedom is designed for this target. The designed platform is composed of 4-DOF parallel mechanism with spherical joints and prismatic pairs,and 2-DOF serial mechanism with prismatic pairs. With this design,the platform has advantages of low platform countertop,big workspace,high carrying capacity and high stiffness. On the basis of DOF analysis and computation of space mechanism,weight supporting auxiliary mechanism and raceways-balls supporting mechanism are designed,so as to improve the stiffness of designed large platform and payload capacity of servo motors. And then the whole structure design work of the platform is done. Meanwhile,this paper derives the analytical solutions of forward kinematics, inverse kinematics and inverse dynamics. The error analysis model of position and orientation is established. And then the simulation is done in ADAMS to ensure the correctness and feasibility of this design.

Effect of core stability training on balance in elderly women

Objective:The study investigated the effect of core stability training on balance in elderly women.Method:Sixty female volunteers 61-70 years of age were divided into training(n=30)and control groups(n=30).Core stability training was given to patients in the training group,and walk-ing exercise was given to patients in the control group.The function of static and dynamic balance was detected before training and 30 weeks after training.Results:The time of standing on one foot with eyes closed after training in the training group was significantly longer than the control group,and the stellate balance test with stretching the lower limbs straight ahead,behind,and laterally in the training group was significantly better than the control group.The performance of two lower limbs during the training in the straight ahead di-rection,behind,and to the outer side in the training group was significantly better than the control group.Significant differences also occurred when the left leg was supported on the outer rear,and the right leg was supported on the medial front and rear.Conclusion:Core stability training is more beneficial than walking exercises in improving balance in elderly women.

Crosswind stability of high-speed trains in special cuts

Analysis of the aerodynamic performance of high-speed trains in special cuts would provide references for the critical overturning velocity and complement the operation safety management under strong winds.This work was conducted to investigate the flow structure around trains under different cut depths,slope angles using computational fluid dynamics(CFD).The high-speed train was considered with bogies and inter-carriage gaps.And the accuracy of the numerical method was validated by combining with the experimental data of wind tunnel tests.Then,the variations of aerodynamic forces and surface pressure distribution of the train were mainly analyzed.The results show that the surroundings of cuts along the railway line have a great effect on the crosswind stability of trains.With the slope angle and depth of the cut increasing,the coefficients of aerodynamic forces tend to reduce.An angle of 75°is chosen as the optimum one for the follow-up research.Under different depth conditions,the reasonable cut depth for high-speed trains to run safely is 3 m lower than that of the conventional cut whose slope ratio is 1:1.5.Furthermore,the windward slope angle is more important than the leeward one for the train aerodynamic performance.Due to the shield of appropriate cuts,the train body is in a minor positive pressure environment.Thus,designing a suitable cut can contribute to improving the operation safety of high-speed trains.

Athletes who train on unstable compared to stable surfaces exhibit unique postural control strategies in response to balance perturbations

Background:Athletes have been shown to exhibit better balance compared to non-athletes(NON).However,few studies have investigated how the surface on which athletes train affects the strategies adopted to maintain balance.Two distinct athlete groups who experience different types of sport-specific balance training are stable surface athletes(SSA) such as basketball players and those who train on unstable surfaces(USA) such as surfers.The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of training surface on dynamic balance in athletes compared to NON.Methods:Eight NON,eight SSA,and eight USA performed five 20-s trials in each of five experimental conditions including a static condition and four dynamic conditions in which the support surface translated in the anteroposterior(AP) or mediolateral(ML) planes using positive or negative feedback paradigms.Approximate entropy(Ap En) and root mean square distance(RMS) of the center of pressure(Co P) were calculated for the AP and ML directions.Four 3 × 5(group × condition) repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine significant effects of group and condition on variables of interest.Results:USA exhibited smaller Ap En values than SSA in the AP signals while no significant differences were observed in the ML Co P signals.Generally,the negative feedback conditions were associated with significantly greater RMS values than the positive feedback conditions.Conclusion:USA exhibit unique postural strategies compared to SSA.These unique strategies seemingly exhibit a direction-specific attribute and may be associated with divergent motor control strategies.