Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

A human foot lands on a stair. A finger strikes a piano or computer key. A rover churns through the soil on Mars. A hockey stick impacts a puck. These are all examples of dynamic systems, the motion of which depends upon the nature of the contact between bodies. Mathematical models and computer simulations can be used to predict if the human will fall down the stairs, or if the rover will get stuck in the Martian soil, but these models must be validated by experiments before they can be used as predictive tools for design. The applicant and his research team have developed new theories for predicting the dynamics of physical systems involving impacts. These ""volumetric"" models represent contact that occurs over large or small surfaces, the friction between these surfaces, and the energy lost during impact due to nonlinear material properties. We have applied our modelling theories to foot-ground impacts, the contact dynamics of sporting equipment, tire-road interactions, and the impacts of piano hammers on strings. The high-speed camera and equipment being requested is critical for us to see and understand the physics underlying the impact occurring in our applications. It is also essential that we validate our volumetric contact modelling theories, and determine appropriate values for the physical parameters appearing in our models. The high-speed camera will be used in many of our applications, including robotic impacts, the design of golf clubs and hockey sticks, biomechanics, and tire modelling. The camera will provide valuable data for tracking the deformations in a human heel pad during foot-ground contact. This will guide the further development of our research models, which are being used to design assistive devices, to evaluate the balance of a patient, and to further our understanding of human gait. The high-speed camera will also track the deformation of a wheel moving through soft soil at the Canadian Space Agency, allowing us to design rover wheels with increased traction --- to prevent a multi-million-dollar investment from getting stuck on a faraway planet or asteroid. In short, the requested equipment is crucial for the validation and the advancement of our research theories.