Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits

Abstract This paper presents a simple mechanical model capable of evaluating a running effectiveness index $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI based on mechanical energy. We extended a spring-loaded inverted pendulum model, considering the biomechanical determinants of running economy (RE), to develop a simplif...

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Main Authors: Hiromu Mori, Takayuki Tanaka, Akihiko Murai, Takashi Kusaka, Yumeko Imamura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-07-01
Series:ROBOMECH Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-025-00315-4
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author Hiromu Mori
Takayuki Tanaka
Akihiko Murai
Takashi Kusaka
Yumeko Imamura
author_facet Hiromu Mori
Takayuki Tanaka
Akihiko Murai
Takashi Kusaka
Yumeko Imamura
author_sort Hiromu Mori
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This paper presents a simple mechanical model capable of evaluating a running effectiveness index $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI based on mechanical energy. We extended a spring-loaded inverted pendulum model, considering the biomechanical determinants of running economy (RE), to develop a simplified mechanical model that can accurately represent the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI calculated by a detailed running model. To assess the accuracy of the proposed model in estimating RE, we computed the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI using both the proposed and detailed models, based on data obtained from running experiments. A linear regression analysis using the least squares method was performed to analyze the relationship between the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI values calculated by the two models. The regression analysis results of the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI values obtained from the two models yielded significant F-statistics ( $$p < 0.01$$ p < 0.01 ) for all four participants, demonstrating that the proposed model can sufficiently represent the running economy index calculated by the detailed model.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2197-4225
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series ROBOMECH Journal
spelling doaj-art-0a4539b836644c5ca36ca32f8eb2b3fa2025-08-20T03:46:03ZengSpringerOpenROBOMECH Journal2197-42252025-07-011211810.1186/s40648-025-00315-4Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suitsHiromu Mori0Takayuki Tanaka1Akihiko Murai2Takashi Kusaka3Yumeko Imamura4Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido UniversityFaculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido UniversityResearch Institute on Human and Societal Augmentation, AISTFaculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido UniversityResearch Institute on Human and Societal Augmentation, AISTAbstract This paper presents a simple mechanical model capable of evaluating a running effectiveness index $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI based on mechanical energy. We extended a spring-loaded inverted pendulum model, considering the biomechanical determinants of running economy (RE), to develop a simplified mechanical model that can accurately represent the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI calculated by a detailed running model. To assess the accuracy of the proposed model in estimating RE, we computed the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI using both the proposed and detailed models, based on data obtained from running experiments. A linear regression analysis using the least squares method was performed to analyze the relationship between the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI values calculated by the two models. The regression analysis results of the $$\epsilon _{EI}$$ ϵ EI values obtained from the two models yielded significant F-statistics ( $$p < 0.01$$ p < 0.01 ) for all four participants, demonstrating that the proposed model can sufficiently represent the running economy index calculated by the detailed model.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-025-00315-4Running economyModelingMechanical energy
spellingShingle Hiromu Mori
Takayuki Tanaka
Akihiko Murai
Takashi Kusaka
Yumeko Imamura
Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
ROBOMECH Journal
Running economy
Modeling
Mechanical energy
title Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
title_full Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
title_fullStr Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
title_full_unstemmed Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
title_short Development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
title_sort development of a simple mechanical model to evaluate running economy for designing running augmentation suits
topic Running economy
Modeling
Mechanical energy
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-025-00315-4
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AT akihikomurai developmentofasimplemechanicalmodeltoevaluaterunningeconomyfordesigningrunningaugmentationsuits
AT takashikusaka developmentofasimplemechanicalmodeltoevaluaterunningeconomyfordesigningrunningaugmentationsuits
AT yumekoimamura developmentofasimplemechanicalmodeltoevaluaterunningeconomyfordesigningrunningaugmentationsuits