Design and development of a fall arresting system

Despite the large personal and economic losses associated with the effects of falling and slipping, the etiology of falling and slipping behavior (FSB) is unknown. A major inhibition of past research has been the lack of a facility to experimentally investigate such behavior without exposing human subjects to the natural danger of injury resulting from falls. To carry out this research, a facility was constructed to investigate FSB. One component of this facility, a fall arresting system, will be used to experimentally research the basic mechanisms involved in falls. Specifically, this component must be designed to provide passive, reactive support of a person so that a reduced friction walk surface and/or a fall can be induced. This fall arresting system is composed of two subsystems. In the first, the mechanical components are combined to provide an overhead suspension system that can be made to track a predetermined path in anticipation of arresting an induced fall. The second subsystem is an automatic control system that provides passive tracking of the test subject's movement along the path. This paper describes the development of the overall system and how the components are combined to provide a functional fall-arresting system.