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Zelik Lab
For Biomechanics & Assistive Technology

Outreach

Virtual Outreach Videos

Welcome students, K-12 educators, and those excited to learn more about biomechanics to our virtual outreach page!

We created these educational resources for you: Have your students watch our 5-minute biomechanics videos below (or available on our YouTube channel). Then, use our suggested discussion questions to have your students reflect on these videos through writing or discussion!

Thank you for your interest in learning more about biomechanics and engineering.

 

Preventing Injuries

Topics: sports biomechanics, wearables, machine learning, motion capture, forces, electromyography

Suggested age group: Elementary, middle, and high school students

Discussion questions:

  1. Can you think of any other sports technologies that were informed by science and biomechanics? How do these technologies help the athlete?
  2. If you could create a wearable device that monitored a metric related to your health, wellness, performance, or productivity, what type of wearable would you create?
  3. Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages of using wearable devices and machine learning to monitor our movement all day, every day?

 

 Assistive Technology: Restoring Mobility & Independence

Topics: exoskeleton, prosthesis, powered, passive, safety, mobility, design, rehabilitation

Suggested age group: Elementary, middle, and high school students

Discussion questions:

  1. Assistive technology is any device that helps an individual with disabilities perform daily tasks. In this video we discuss exoskeletons and prostheses. What is an example of assistive technology that was not mentioned in this video?
  2. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of an unpowered assistive device versus a powered assistive device.
  3. You have designed a hand exoskeleton that helps an individual grasp objects. How would you design an experiment to test it? What variables would you control, and what variables would you change? What would you measure?

 

Marvelous Muscles and How We Move Our Bodies

Topics: muscles, human movement, muscle measurement devices, reflexes

Suggested age group: Elementary, middle, and high school students

Discussion questions:

  1. Based on your new knowledge about muscles, why do you think it may be more challenging to design a hand prosthesis than some leg prostheses?
  2. Besides electromyography (devices that measure electrical activity in muscles) can you think of any other ways we study the signals in our body?
  3. Think about the muscles in your thigh. Can you identify which muscles help flex (bend) your knee and which ones help extend (straighten) your knee? As you walk, when might each of these sets of muscles be receiving electrical signals?
  4. What kind of devices can you think about that would help someone recover from an injury where they over-used their muscles and need help moving their body?

 

Robots part 1: What are Robots?

Topics: robotics, controls, mechanical design, electronics, programming

Suggested age group: Elementary, middle, and high school students

Discussion questions:

  1. Can you think of any other robots that are in your home or school? What are the mechanical, electrical, and computer software components?
  2. What are some tasks you’d like to have a robot to help you complete? How would you design this robot?
  3. Think about the heating and cooling (air conditioning) in your home. Do you think that is an open loop or a closed loop system? What are other examples of open loop and closed loop systems?
  4. Can you think of any tasks that humans are better at than robots? What gives humans the advantage?

 

Robots part 2: Wearable Robotic Devices

Topics: robotics, mechanical design, electronics, prosthetics, exoskeletons, assistive technology

Suggested age group: Middle and high school students

Discussion questions:

  1. Wearable robots can also be used to help healthy individuals perform beyond human capabilities. Can you think of an activity where you would want enhanced abilities? What part of the body would the robot assist for you to accomplish this?
  2. Think about designing a wearable robot to help someone move their shoulders and lift heavy things. What would you need to know about how the shoulder moves and the task before you design the device?
  3. If you were going to design a wearable robot to help someone walk up and down stairs, what do you think the hardest part would be? How could the robot know when you are going UP vs. DOWN stairs?
  4. What are some safety considerations engineers must keep in mind when designing a prosthetic device or exoskeleton for a human to wear?

 

Biomechanics: When Sports Meets Science

Topics: sports, physics, motion capture, high jump

Suggested age group: Elementary, middle, and high school students

Discussion questions: coming soon!

 

National Biomechanics Day (Annual Outreach Event)

National Biomechanics Day (NBD) is an international event that seeks to increase awareness of biomechanics (the study of motion and force as applied to biological systems), particularly among high school students, teachers and the general public.

The hope is to help incorporate biomechanics into high school curricula as a way to excite and enhance the learning of students in the areas of math, biology and physics. More generally, NBD is a scientific celebration of all things biomechanics including educational institutions, scientific societies, athletic entities seeking to improve performance and reduce injury, biomechanics, instrument manufacturers, and any commercial entities that use biomechanics to create or enhance their products or personnel.

NBD is organized by the American Society of Biomechanics and Vanderbilt University is excited to participate by hosting a day of science, technology, fun, curiosity and discovery. We look forward to hosting high school students/classes for future events, which typically include interactive lab tours and hands-on demonstrations related to biomechanics, prosthetics and exoskeletons.

Stay tuned for future updates about in-person NBD events at Vanderbilt.

If you are a local high school teacher, group organizer or administrator, and would like to inquire about bringing a group/class of students for this event or other lab tours, then please email the Point(s) of Contact below.

If you are a company or organization interested in contributing to NBD either financially or in some other way (e.g., donation of biomechanics-related videos about your products or processes, listing our NBD event on your website, or any other in-kind or material donation) then please email the Point(s) of Contact info below. Thanks!

Points of Contact
Katherine Rodzak (katherine.rodzak@vanderbilt.edu)
Karl Zelik (karl.zelik@vanderbilt.edu)