Development of a Whole-Shoe Biofidelic, Robotic, and Portable Slip Testing Device
摘要
Most friction measurement devices are cumbersome, expensive, and situated in laboratories. This arises from their incapacity to emulate the biomechanics of human slips and the environmental accuracy necessary to reproduce walking surfaces and contamination scenarios characteristic of slip and fall incidents. They also exhibit a deficiency in portability. Additionally, there is little to no knowledge of slip testing in low- or middle-income nations, and this equipment is costly and hard to come by. Current slide testing equipment includes limitations; therefore, an optimal solution would be a portable, lightweight, and cost-effective apparatus capable of simulating human slip biomechanics and assessing traction performance on realistic slick surfaces. This chapter describes the development of a lightweight, portable, cost-effective, and user-friendly whole-shoe biofidelic slip testing apparatus. The parameters for human slip biomechanics established by the slip tester aligned with previous studies [1–3]. The device’s specifications considered the average human foot load, the sliding velocity identified in human studies, and the ability to replicate different heel contact angles during slippage. Ten pairs of dress shoes were employed to validate the device’s outcomes on two separate floors in both dry and wet conditions. The device is expected to significantly influence the performance testing of footwear friction on actual unstable flooring in commercial, clinical, and industrial environments [3–6].