Mechanisms of Fall Resistance to Diverse Slipping Conditions

A slip will be administered to participants at 3 different times in the gait cycle for each of 3 different patch curvatures and 2 different legs for a total of 18 slip episodes. Slips will be delivered while walking along a straight path (infinite radius), or curved paths with radii 2, or 1 meters.

Slips will be administered to participants at 3 different times in the gait cycle over sloped ground surface of no slope, ±5.0 and ±10.0 degrees slopes in the direction of walking, and 5.0 and 10.0 degrees perpendicular to the direction of walking. On slopes perpendicular to the direction of walking, slips will be administered to the uphill or downhill foot. A total of 27 slip episodes will be administered. Sloped walking surfaces will be generated with the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) system treadmill.