Workshop Presenter: Stephen Piazza PhD, The Pennsylvania State University, USA



This workshop will give participants a practical introduction to the use of multibody dynamic computer simulation as a means for studying human movement, with a special focus on the foot and ankle. Challenges encountered in creating realistic and useful simulations include deciding how to model interaction between the foot and floor, and how to represent degrees of freedom in the foot and in the ankle complex. Different approaches previously used to solve these problems will be presented in a series of hands-on demonstrations using open-source musculoskeletal modeling software (OpenSim). Upon completion of the workshop, participants will have gained expertise that will allow them (1) to appreciate simulation methods described in the literature and (2) to begin creating their own simulations of movement. No previous background in computer simulation will be assumed.