These graphical models of jumping and walking incorporate joint angles from videotaped human subjects. Each muscle is represented by a three-element entity in series with tendons. A three-dimensional jumping supercomputer model, the first of its kind, consumes 800 CPU hours on an IBM SP2. A walking model, under development, will need approximately four times the computation.

Graphics courtesy of Marcus Pandy, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Back to the article