Walking Mode Research Articles

Assessment of health and economic benefits of walking in the Republic of North Macedonia using Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT)

Walking as a form of physical activity has immense health benefits, but it also has economic benefits. Walking is a very efficient activity that prevents certain diseases and enables better quality of life of people who already have some disease.A considerable contribution of walking is detected in cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity and chronic pulmonary diseases.The aim of this study was to make a health and economic assessment of the benefits of walking in the Republic of North Macedonia by using the Health and Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT).Materials and methods:Health Economic Assessment Tool is a relatively new tool, developed by WHO experts whose expertise is in the field of Public health and is able to calculate the health effects of regular walking and/or cycling. This study was based on using this tool for walking mode for the first time in the Republic of North Macedonia in a population group of 191 participants between the age of 20 to 73 years, with the average age of 35 years.Results:Besides the aforementioned health benefits, HEAT calculates the economic benefits of walking. The tool applied to 191 participants resulted in a total economic value of 108 808.8€ for one yearas well as reduction in mortality rate. Conclusion: We found that less than one fifth of our assessed population spends time in walking according to the WHO, CDC and AHA recommendations. The rest of them, more than four fifths are not following these recommendations. Our assessed population was relatively young, the average age being 35 years old, and the population was healthy, but still the results from this survey were not satisfying.

Equity of geographical access to public health facilities in Nepal

IntroductionGeographical accessibility is important against health equity, particularly for less developed countries as Nepal. It is important to identify the disparities in geographical accessibility to the three levels of public...

ANALYSIS OF OPERABILITY OF THE SPECIAL VEHICLE TRANSMISSION

The work is devoted to the analysis of the transmission of a special vehicle (SV) for moving on various surfaces, in particular on stepped ones, designed for people with disabilities. Based on the analysis of various vehicles for the movement of people with disabilities, a model of a SV was created. The main difference of proposed SV is the possibility of using the movement of the passenger՚s center of mass relative to the chassis of a SV for stabilization of the movement. A kinematic scheme of the SV transmission which includes the planetary reducer was created. The reducer provides movement of SV at various modes. Also SV transmission was modeled in the Solidworks software. The analysis of the performance of this transmission when moving a SV on various surfaces was made on base of created 3D-model. Based on the analysis, the efficiency of the transmission of a SV was proved both when moving on a straight surface, and in walking mode when overcoming steps.

Evaluating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the older adults’ travel mode choices

Background and aimsTo increase the older adults' mobility during the COVID-19 outbreak, providing appropriate conditions for using different transportation modes and organizing transportation facilities for the older adults are essential. Hence, this study aims to evaluate and compare factors affecting the older adults’ travel mode choice to investigate transportation policies for increasing their independent mobility in the post-outbreak that has not been addressed in previous research. MethodologyThe population of this cross-sectional study consisted of Isfahan citizens aged 60 years and over. For interviews based on a structured questionnaire, 453 participants were randomly selected in 15 municipality districts of Isfahan. Multinomial logistic models were used to analyze the data. FindingsThe results show that despite the decrease in the average frequency of travels per week, the increase in the share of walking and cycling modes, making shopping and recreational travels on foot, and cycling can indicate the resilience of walking and cycling in critical situations. The results also reveal that active modes have effective roles in the older adults’ mobility in the post-outbreak because they are not subject to traffic restrictions like private vehicles and social constraints and crowd avoidance like public transportation. Discussion and conclusionPolicies such as the proper location of facilities, increasing density and mixing of land uses, landscaping, traffic reduction, increasing ownership of bicycle and tricycle (to eliminate the problems of falling in getting on and off the bicycles), driving training courses for the safe driving, and intersections safety improvement are essential to maintain the older adults' mobility after the outbreak. With more capacity and low occupancy, the public transportation system, high-quality accessibility, and safe routes will also attract the older adults’ travels in the crisis.

Exploring user requirements and service features of e-micromobility in five European cities

This research was specifically aiming to understand the current travel behavior of individuals in five different locations related to e-micromobility. The basis of the analysis was a well-designed survey built to extract objective trip information when using e-micromobility, and subjective information of individual perspectives towards the service. The survey was mainly focusing on service usage, customer satisfaction, and trip combinations, with a specific focus on knowledge about regulations. In general, travelers are familiar with e-micromobile services and regulations, but they primarily use them for leisure trips as short-term renting, not on a regular basis. It seems that most users would shift from walking and public transport modes. The main benefits of e-micromobility are its flexibility and speed, while the concerns cover potential conflicts with other road users, safety issues, and incorrect parking of e-micromobility vehicles. Comparing and analyzing the results among the chosen cities helped understanding the strengths and weaknesses of e-micromobility, as well as the potential of new mobility services. We also aimed to analyze future implications, which supports long-term policy making and potential effects on the transportation network and city structure.

Ride-hailing and taxi versus walking: Long term forecasts and implications from large-scale behavioral data

IntroductionAlthough ride-hailing and taxi trips can potentially reduce single-occupant vehicle trips and auto ownership, they can also replace pedestrian trips. Because physical activity is associated with improved health outcomes, the extent to which ride-hailing and taxi travel captures walking's mode share is of interest to policymakers. MethodsBased on large-scale behavioral data from the 2017 U.S. National Household Travel Survey, this paper reports on the development of a full Bayesian logistic regression model for determining the mode split between (1) ride-hailing and taxi and (2) walk while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. The results from the stand-alone model inform two longer-term travel forecasting scenarios: a) higher risk of walk trips converting to ride-hailing and taxi, specifically in the future with high prevalence of automated vehicles, b) higher probability of such trips remaining as walking. ResultsThe results revealed that some of the important characteristics that increase the likelihood of a traveler using the ride-hailing and taxi mode versus walking include having a longer trip, using a smartphone to access the internet, having an interest in technologies, having a medical condition, and living in a metropolitan area with rail access. Further, the results from the first scenario suggest that an overall increase of up to 2.9% in the ride-hailing and taxi mode share may be expected. The second scenario shows that between 68% and 76% of ride-hailing and taxi trips could be diverted to walking if supportive pedestrian infrastructure were provided in the case study locations. The planning process can be adapted to consider not only congestion, crash, and emissions impacts of such shifts but also the effects of a loss of physical activity. ConclusionsThe study findings show how the ride-hailing and taxi mode competes with walking. Further, the findings enable planners to update their regional travel forecasting models; policy makers can thus encourage active travel by prioritizing pedestrian infrastructure investments that may divert ride-hailing and taxi trips to walking. However, equity should be a key consideration to ensure that addressing the competition between these two modal choices does not hinder the provision of pedestrian facilities in communities that depend on walking.

A Silurian ophiuroid with soft‐tissue preservation

AbstractMost Palaeozoic brittle stars lack the fused arm ossicles (vertebrae) that facilitate the remarkable mode of walking that characterizes living forms. Here we describe a stem ophiuroid from the Herefordshire Lagerstätte (Silurian, Wenlock Series), which is exceptional in preserving the body cavity uncompacted and the long tube feet. We assign the specimen to the order Oegophiurida. The morphology of the arms and attitude of the specimen suggest that locomotion may have been achieved by arm propulsion combined with podial walking. This ophiuroid increases the diversity of echinoderm higher taxa with preserved soft parts represented in the Herefordshire Lagerstätte.

Gait Programming of Quadruped Bionic Robot

Foot bionic robot could be supported and towed through a series of discrete footholds and be adapted to rugged terrain through attitude adjustment. The vibration isolation of the robot could decouple the fuselage from foot-end trajectories, thus, the robot walked smoothly even if in a significant terrain. The gait programming and foot end trajectory algorithm were simulated. The quadruped robot of parallel five linkages with eight degrees of freedom were tested. The kinematics model of the robot was established by setting the corresponding coordinate system. The forward and inverse kinematics of both supporting and swinging legs were analyzed, and the angle function of single leg driving joint was obtained. The trajectory planning of both supporting and swinging phases was carried out, based on the control strategy of compound cycloid foot-end trajectory planning algorithm with zero impact. The single leg was simulated in Matlab with the established kinematic model. Finally, the walking mode of the robot was studied according to bionics principles. The diagonal gait was simulated and verified through the foot-end trajectory and the kinematics.

Assessing polycentric development in terms of trip chaining efficiency

Polycentric urban growth with dense, diverse, and accessible centers is assumed to have multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits for the region. Yet, evidence on the benefits of polycentricity in the transportation sector remains less studied, and previous research has found mixed results. Besides, to our knowledge, none of the previous research focuses on trip chains or tours (sequence of trips that begins and ends at home) in centers. This paper investigates trip chaining efficiency in 28 U.S. regions, comparing three different types of tours, i.e., tours that are within a center, tours that are partially inside a center, and tours that are completely outside a center. I consider a tour to be efficient if it comprises travel modes other than the personal automobile. The results of parametric tests show that tours within a center are associated with higher walk, bike, and transit mode shares and lower car share. Effect sizes are larger for walk and car shares than for bike and transit shares. The findings of this research can encourage and guide planners to design environments that promote active transportation while maximizing resident access to services and amenities and minimizing their expenditure on mobility and travel time.

Multi-objective worker allocation optimisation in a multiple U-line system

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate two operational modes of the worker allocation problem (WAP) in the multiple U-line system (MULS). Five objectives are optimised simultaneously for the most complicated operational modes, i.e. machine-dominant working and fixed-station walking. Besides, the benefits of using multiline workstations (MLWs) are investigated.Design/methodology/approachThe elite non-dominated sorting differential evolutionary III (ENSDE III) algorithm is developed as a solution technique. Also, the largest remaining available time heuristic is proposed as a baseline in determining the number and utilisation of workers when the use of MLWs is not allowed.FindingsENSDE III outperforms the cutting-edged multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, i.e. multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition and non-dominated sorting differential evolutionary III, under two key Pareto metrics, i.e. generational distance and inverted generational distance, regardless of the problem size. The best-found number of workers from ENSDE III is substantially lower than the upper bound. The MULS with MLWs requires fewer workers than the one without.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this research has extended several issues in the basic model of multiple U-line systems, some assumptions were used to facilitate mathematical computation as follows. The U-line system in this research assumed that all lines were produced only a single product. Besides, all workers were well-trained to gain the same skill. These assumptions could be extended in the future.Practical implicationsThe implication of this research is the benefits of multiline workstations (MLWs) used in the multiple U-line system. Instead of leaving each individual line to operate independently, all lines should be working in parallel through the use of MLWs to gain benefits in terms of worker reduction, balancing worker’s workload, higher system utilisation.Originality/valueThis research is the first to address the WAP in the MULS with machine-dominant working and fixed-station walking modes. Worker’s fatigue due to standing and walking while working is incorporated into the model. The novel ENSDE III algorithm is developed to optimise the multi-objective WAP in a Pareto sense. The benefits of exploiting MLWs are also illustrated.

Real-Time Pedestrian Tracking Terminal Based on Adaptive Zero Velocity Update.

In the field of pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR), the zero velocity update (ZUPT) method with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) is a mature technology to calibrate dead reckoning. However, due to the complex walking modes of different individuals, it is essential and challenging to determine the ZUPT conditions, which has a direct and significant influence on the tracking accuracy. In this research, we adopted an adaptive zero velocity update (AZUPT) method based on convolution neural networks to classify the ZUPT conditions. The AZUPT model was robust regardless of the different motion types of various individuals. AZUPT was then implemented on the Zynq-7000 SoC platform to work in real time to validate its computational efficiency and performance superiority. Extensive real-world experiments were conducted by 60 different individuals in three different scenarios. It was demonstrated that the proposed system could work equally well in different environments, making it portable for PDR to be widely performed in various real-world situations.

How are Neighborhood and Street-Level Walkability Factors Associated with Walking Behaviors? A Big Data Approach Using Street View Images

The built environment characteristics associated with walkability range from neighborhood-level urban form factors to street-level urban design factors. However, many existing walkability indices are based on neighborhood-level factors and lack consideration for street-level factors. Arguably, this omission is due to the lack of a scalable way to measure them. This paper uses computer vision to quantify street-level factors from street view images in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Correlation analysis shows that some streetscape factors are highly correlated with neighborhood-level factors. Binary logistic regressions indicate that the streetscape factors can significantly contribute to explaining walking mode choice and that streetscape factors can have a greater association with walking mode choice than neighborhood-level factors. A potential explanation for the result is that the image-based streetscape factors may perform as proxies for some macroscale factors while representing the pedestrian experience as seen from eye-level.

Study on Evaluation of Urban and Rural High-quality Living Space Based on Accessibility Analysis——Taking Shahe City, Hebei Province as an example

The change of planning thought from “taking things as the center” to “taking people as the center” requires that the allocation mode of supporting public service facilities in urban and rural residential areas should also change from simple service radius to accessibility analysis. In this study, Dijkstra algorithm is used to analyze the spatial network with the help of the spatial data of urban transportation network and six types of public service facilities. Based on the concept of equalization of urban and rural public service facilities, this paper constructs an evaluation index system of high-quality living space of urban and rural residents based on accessibility, determines the weight by calculating the information entropy of each index, and compares and analyzes the accessibility evaluation results on the scale of urban and rural residential areas. Try to construct the full coverage and partial coverage of the 15-minute living circle of various facilities under four modes of driving at higher or lower speeds and walking for adults or the elderly. The research results show that the hardware construction of the city’s transportation network system and public service facilities is efficient and convenient, with high accessibility and accessibility, showing the characteristics of urban-rural equivalence. However, under the low speed and walking mode, there is still room for layout optimization and improvement of some road systems and facilities.

A Classification Approach Based on Directed Acyclic Graph to Predict Locomotion Activities With One Inertial Sensor on the Thigh

Current state-of-the-art locomotion mode classifiers for controlling robotic lower-limb prostheses rely on multiple sensors to achieve high accuracy, prediction performance, and robustness to both speed changes and subject-specific gait patterns. However, multiple sensors placed on different body parts usually entail discomfort and poor usability for the user. This paper presents an intention detection method that relies on the features extracted from an inertial measurement unit worn on the thigh and an online phase estimator. The algorithm classifies the locomotion mode of the upcoming stride among the three modes of ground-level walking, stair ascent, and stair descent. A two-stage classification process first distinguishes between transient and steady-state strides and then classifies the locomotion mode of the impending stride based on directed acyclic graphs of binary classifiers. The classification is performed at 75% or 85% of the previous stride phase, respectively for steady-state and transient strides. Data were gathered from 10 healthy subjects and processed offline. Feature design and selection were based on the data of all subjects, while the classification performance was assessed by leave-one-subject-out cross-validation. Results presented a median recognition accuracy of 98.7% for steady-state strides and 95.6% for transitions, suggesting that the method was inherently robust to variations in gait cadence, since all of the features were phase-based and not dependent on fixed time intervals. These results inform the design of control strategies for active transfemoral prostheses able to predict the user’s locomotion intention during the next stride, using minimum sensors.

Neuromechanics and Energetics of Walking With an Ankle Exoskeleton Using Neuromuscular-Model Based Control: A Parameter Study.

Powered ankle exoskeletons that apply assistive torques with optimized timing and magnitude can reduce metabolic cost by ∼10% compared to normal walking. However, finding individualized optimal control parameters is time consuming and must be done independently for different walking modes (e.g., speeds, slopes). Thus, there is a need for exoskeleton controllers that are capable of continuously adapting torque assistance in concert with changing locomotor demands. One option is to use a biologically inspired, model-based control scheme that can capture the adaptive behavior of the human plantarflexors during natural gait. Here, based on previously demonstrated success in a powered ankle-foot prosthesis, we developed an ankle exoskeleton controller that uses a neuromuscular model (NMM) comprised of a Hill type musculotendon driven by a simple positive force feedback reflex loop. To examine the effects of NMM reflex parameter settings on (i) ankle exoskeleton mechanical performance and (ii) users’ physiological response, we recruited nine healthy, young adults to walk on a treadmill at a fixed speed of 1.25 m/s while donning bilateral tethered robotic ankle exoskeletons. To quantify exoskeleton mechanics, we measured exoskeleton torque and power output across a range of NMM controller Gain (0.8–2.0) and Delay (10–40 ms) settings, as well as a High Gain/High Delay (2.0/40 ms) combination. To quantify users’ physiological response, we compared joint kinematics and kinetics, ankle muscle electromyography and metabolic rate between powered and unpowered/zero-torque conditions. Increasing NMM controller reflex Gain caused increases in average ankle exoskeleton torque and net power output, while increasing NMM controller reflex Delay caused a decrease in net ankle exoskeleton power output. Despite systematic reduction in users’ average biological ankle moment with exoskeleton mechanical assistance, we found no NMM controller Gain or Delay settings that yielded changes in metabolic rate. Post hoc analyses revealed weak association at best between exoskeleton and biological mechanics and changes in users’ metabolic rate. Instead, changes in users’ summed ankle joint muscle activity with powered assistance correlated with changes in their metabolic energy use, highlighting the potential to utilize muscle electromyography as a target for on-line optimization in next generation adaptive exoskeleton controllers.

Design of Quadruped Inspection Robot for Substation

The intelligent inspection robots in substations mostly use wheeled chassis, which have good passability when running on flat roads, but it is difficult to effectively cross obstacles under terrain conditions such as steps and stairs. A quadruped inspection robot for substation is designed to improve the walking ability of the robot with a four-leg alternate walking mode to optimize the leg structure design for road conditions such as steps and stairs in the substation. The robot is equipped with pan-tilt detection components and inspection equipment such as multi-degree-of-freedom manipulators can complete intelligent inspection and lightweight maintenance tasks in open substations, and achieve full coverage of the inspection area.

Human-Following Control of Cane-Type Walking-Aid Robot Within Fixed Relative Posture

Assisting and supervising daily long-durational walking is very crucial for patients with lower extremity dysfunction, especially in the stage of recovery toward a state of walking independently. However, due to the shortage of caregivers and high cost of nursing, long-term manual assistance and supervision is costly. Thus, in this article, we propose a cane-type walking-aid robot to follow a human user for the safety and supervision of independent walking during rehabilitation training. Strongly motivated by clinical suggestions and user experiences, the human-following rule that the robot should follow the user in the required position within a fixed relative posture (keeping a certain distance in front of the user, 15–20 cm lateral to the healthy side, and 0 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula> to the user’s orientation) is established. To guarantee a reliable following, a quantitative human walking intention estimation method is proposed using the on-board laser ranger finder and Kalman filter. To effectively monitor the user’s walking, a finite-time control method for the cane robot is also proposed to ensure its human-following performance. Experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system and methods. The experimental results show that the proposed system can obtain satisfactory performance of human following and can be made available for different users in different walking modes.

Spatio-temporal assessment of gait kinematics in vertical pedestrian-structure interaction

Pedestrian structures regularly exhibit excessive vibrations when they are dynamically excited by human activities. Traditional modeling approaches neglect, due to the lack of suitable data, the temporal and spatial kinematic changes (such as the step length, step width, pace frequency and horizontal speed) when pedestrians are walking on a vibrating surface in the vertical direction such as slabs, footbridges, or stairs. Although several experimental studies have quantified the variability of human gait, most of these were conducted overground. These procedures do not fully account for the interaction between the pedestrian and an oscillating surface, compromising the comfort in service conditions for their occupants. In this paper, the spatio-temporal gait parameters were measured when six adults were instructed to walk on the beam and on the ground. The kinematic parameters were compared among the individual subjects to evaluate their variability associated with the vertical acceleration influence. Two gait modes were examined in this study, metronomic walk and self-selected pace. The results show that the walking locomotion parameters such as step length, step width, pace frequency, and pedestrian horizontal speed were found to have substantial differences on the ground as compared with the structural vibration under different walking modes. The findings here clearly demonstrate that gait and bridge kinematics interact, and continued research is warranted with larger numbers of participants under a wider range of structural conditions.

Plants jamming on water-saturated soils during contact with the supporting elements (feet) of walking machines

Walking machines when working on waterlogged soils can be more efficient than wheeled machines. They provide increased ground passability and destroy the soil to a lesser extent. The paper discusses the results of studies of plant jamming by the feet of walking machines. Stamp tests of contact interaction of feet of various shapes with water-saturated soil were carried out. It was found that the greatest damage to the plant is obtained along the perimeter of the foot. This was the case at any depth of the footprint. Plants damaged by the foot, even in the case of small-sized feet, continued to grow after a period of depression. Wheeled and tracked movers, due to slipping and milling effect, are damaging plants to a higher extent. Mathematical modeling of the contact interaction of the foot with weak-bearing soil by the methods of finite element modeling has been carried out. Dimensional contact model for rigid feet of various shapes interacting with elastoplastic soil is formulated. The task was solved under conditions of large deformations of the supporting surface. The regularities of the stress-strain state of the soil in the zone of its contact with the foot under simple normal loading are obtained. Modeling shows that the greatest stresses occur along the perimeter of the foot, and the soil inside the perimeter is less loaded. This explains the nature of the plant jamming. Thus, the walking mode of movement in irrigated agriculture can provide lower plant jamming in comparison with traditional machines. Considering the smaller area of soil compaction and the absence of a continuous track, which is one of the causes of water erosion of the soil, it can be concluded that it is advisable to use small-sized feet.

Detecting Walking Challenges in Gait Patterns Using a Capacitive Sensor Floor and Recurrent Neural Networks.

Gait patterns are a result of the complex kinematics that enable human two-legged locomotion, and they can reveal a lot about a person’s state and health. Analysing them is useful for researchers to get new insights into the course of diseases, and for physicians to track the progress after healing from injuries. When a person walks and is interfered with in any way, the resulting disturbance can show up and be found in the gait patterns. This paper describes an experimental setup for capturing gait patterns with a capacitive sensor floor, which can detect the time and position of foot contacts on the floor. With this setup, a dataset was recorded where 42 participants walked over a sensor floor in different modes, inter alia, normal pace, closed eyes, and dual-task. A recurrent neural network based on Long Short-Term Memory units was trained and evaluated for the classification task of recognising the walking mode solely from the floor sensor data. Furthermore, participants were asked to do the Unilateral Heel-Rise Test, and their gait was recorded before and after doing the test. Another neural network instance was trained to predict the number of repetitions participants were able to do on the test. As the results of the classification tasks turned out to be promising, the combination of this sensor floor and the recurrent neural network architecture seems like a good system for further investigation leading to applications in health and care.