| Recent improvements of backpacks have effectively reduced the loads being applied to the user. However, currently there is no system that can reduce the total vertical force to the body. While the burden of the static force cannot be reduced, it may be possible to reduce the burden of the dynamic forces. Based on the concept of the springy-pole, a Dynamic Framesheet(TM) (DFS(TM)) was developed to reduce the oscillatory forces applied to the user during walking. The system was tested against the Canadian Forces Clothe the Soldier (CTS) pack with the Load Carriage Simulator housed at Queen's University and with human subjects in a controlled circuit of walking and obstacle tasks at three loads. The simulator testing involved displacement tracking of the pack and mannequin, localized pressure recording and hip reaction forces across three loads. For the human trials, acceleration profiles of the pack and person along with subjective responses to the packs were recorded. An adaptation of water wave analysis was used to identify local maximum and minimum values of displacement and acceleration.{09}Power Spectral Density (PSD) plots, commonly used in ride quality analysis, were used to quantify the accelerations of the packs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
