Chapter 1. External contact forces
1.1. Forces and couples
1.2. Friction forces and air resistance
1.3. Local biological effects of contact forces
1.4. Summary
1.5. Questions for review
1.6. Bibliography

Chapter 2. Statics of multilink serial chains: Transformational analysis
2.1. Torque and force actuators at revolute joints
2.2. Transformational analysis
2.3. Control of external contact forces
2.4. Duality of statics and kinematics: Null spaces
2.5. Summary
2.6. Questions for review
2.7. Bibliography

Chapter 3. Statics of multilink chains: Stability of equilibrium
3.1. Stiffness of passive and active objects
3.2. Apparent endpoint stiffness
3.3. Apparent joint stiffness
3.4. Transformational analysis
3.5. Why is it so difficult to determine joint stiffness?
3.6. Stiffness in motor control models
3.7. Summary
3.8. Questions for review
3.9. Bibliography

Chapter 4. Inertial properties of the human body
4.1. Basic mechanics theory
4.2. Inertial properties of the entire human body
4.3. Inertial properties of the body parts
4.4. Subject-specific inertial characteristics
4.5. Control of body inertia in human movement
4.6. Summary
4.7. Questions for review
4.8. Bibliography

Chapter 5. Joint torques and forces: The inverse problem of dynamics
5.1. Basic dynamic equations
5.2. Inverse dynamics of simple planar chains
5.3. Movement in three dimensions
5.4. Joint torques and joint forces in human motion
5.5. Summary
5.6. Questions for review
5.7. Bibliography

Chapter 6. Mechanical work and energy in human movement
6.1. The concept of work
6.2. Work at a joint and work on a body segment
6.3. Energy, work, and power in multilink kinematic chains
6.4. Minimizing of the energy expenditure for motion
6.5. Summary
6.6. Questions for review
6.7. Bibliography

Appendix 1. Inertial properties of cadavers
Appendix 2. Inertial properties measured in living subjects
Appendix 3. Geometric modeling of human body segments

Glossary
Index
About the Author

16 octobre 2002