Kinematics and kinetostatic modelling of human articulations: knee and ankle joints

The importance of the passive motion of diarthroidal joints, i.e. the motion of the joint under virtually unloaded conditions, has been widely recognized in the literature. Plane and, only recently, spatial equivalent mechanisms have been devised for the modelling of the joint passive motion. This paper focuses on the passive modelling of the human knee and ankle complex joints, and presents, in particular, some relevant spatial equivalent mechanisms proposed by the author and his co-workers in recent years. Some models are described in detail and a comparison of the simulation and experimental results is reported and commented. Finally, some discussions and future issues are reported.