Evaluating Rhythmic Jumping on Vibrating Platform Using Kinematic Data

Rhythmic jumping can be expected on grandstands during music and sports events and imparts dynamic load on to the structure. This often results in safety and serviceability concerns. Human interaction with vibrations is the key aspect that influences both human and structural response and therefore evaluating this interaction is important. To this end, this paper has compared four methods of analysing rhythmic jumping on vibrating structures using kinematic data. Vector coding method was found to be the most informative. The original vector coding procedure has been modified in this paper to propose a new strategy for classifying the coordination patterns between feet and platform motion. The method can be used to evaluate whether a jumper can achieve a target frequency and target timing of the jumping as well as to quantify the variability in jumping over time. In addition, the method enables quantification of duration of contact phase of a jumping cycle.