| The work presented in this thesis is part of a larger study funded by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) to create load-bearing guidelines for the Canadian Forces and to examine the biomechanical effects of carrying heavy loads for long durations. The load carried by a soldier may change throughout the day and guidelines for safe load carriage without injury need to be established. Parameters that may affect task performance for load carriage include: (1) load carried, (2) the forward lean angle of an upper body, (3) the relative movement between the backpack and torso, (4) the speed of walking and (5) terrain conditions, including incline.;The neural networks developed here are useful for predicting load, speed and pack motion from torso motion. Ideally, these findings could allow researchers to determine what load a soldier is carrying, the speed at which he/she is travelling, the lean angle, and relative motion between the soldier and backpack and from this information assess the soldier's performance in the field. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
