The human body, like anything else that is large enough and slow
enough, is bound by the laws of Newtonian mechanics. Our
research is centered on understanding how animals (including
people) and machines can and do move, from a Newtonian mechanics
point of view.
One theme, going since about 1992, picks up on the
Passive-Dynamics research of Tad McGeer. One of our near
duplicates of his most advanced walking machines is shown
walking at the right.
Our other research concerns the walking of real people, the
brachiation (swinging from branches) of primates, the mechanics
of hopping, the role of collisions in the energetic cost of
locomotion, and the mechanics of rowing.
See separate sections of this site for discussion of bicycles
and the role of non-holonomic contact in locomotion stability.
All locomotion and robotics links, papers, videos, etc.
Dan Jung made this Working Model simulation based on parameters
and initial conditions found by in-house simulations. Art Kuo
cleaned up the graphics in Dan's simulation. Gravity points
slightly to the right.