Development of a Suite of Objective Biomechanical Measurement Tools for Personal Load Carriage System Assessment
Abstract
The proper design of personal load carriage systems may be critical not only for soldier comfort, but also for soldier mobility and performance on the battlefield. Evaluation of soldier personal load carriage systems typically involves the conduct of human-based lab and field trials that can be both time-consuming and costly to conduct. Field testing usually requires multiple system prototypes of a given design iteration, with their development cost often limiting the number of design iterations tested. Human-based trials also rely on subjective opinion for system assessment. While the opinions of the ultimate users have face validity, and bias and error can be controlled in such trials, it is also desirable to have objective load carriage assessment methods and analysis tools that permit rapid analysis, design iteration and evaluation. Canada has developed biomechanical assessment and analytical tools to supplement human-based load carriage system assessment methods. This suite of tools permits efficient objective evaluation of important biomechanical aspects of load-bearing webbing, vests, packs and their components, thus contributing to early system assessment and a rapid iterative design process. This paper will introduce each of the assessment and analytical tools, their rationale, the objective measures available and the recommended performance criteria for acceptable military load carriage systems. Separate papers in these proceedings will provide the details of validation and utility of the tools that have been developed by Canada.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADP010997
Entities
People
- J. M. Stevenson
- Jacob T. Bryant
- L. L. Bossi
- R. P. Pelot
- S. A. Reid
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada