Introduction: The maintenance of balance and body orientation during standing is essential to perform different activities. One of the devices used to measure balance them is the force platform. This device measures the ground reaction force (GRF) and displacement of the center of pressure (COP), both biomechanical parameters involved in human motion. This article proposes a new design for non-commercial low-cost force platforms for scientific research purposes. Methods for calibration and validation are also described. Methods: A force platform, developed according to International Standards of Measurement and dedicated to measuring feet contact forces was built for approximately one tenth of the cost of commercial platforms. Calibration was performed by loading known masses, centralized or distributed, on the platform. An experimental study was conducted with four volunteers in different conditions to validate and verify the practical applicability of the device. Results: The platform calibration showed an adequate connectivity, linearity and reliable measurement of the variables proposed in this research, being suitable for studies of human postural behavior. Conclusion: Based on the validation results, we believe the low-cost platform can be used as stabilometric device to measure postural control and balance in clinical or sports experiments. However future studies will be required to provide a final validation and compare its performance with other force platforms.

One of the challenges regarding human motor control is making the movement fluid and at a limited cognitive cost. The coordination between posture and movement is a necessary requirement to perform daily life tasks. The present experiment investigated this interaction in 20 adult men, aged 18-30 years. The cognitive costs associated to postural and movement control when kicking towards a target was estimated using a dual-task paradigm (secondary auditory task). Results showed that addition of the attentional demanding cognitive task yielded a decreased kicking accuracy and an increased timing to perform the movement, mainly during the backswing motion. In addition, significant differences between conditions were found for COP and COM displacement (increased amplitude, mean speed) on the anteroposterior axis. However, no significant differences between conditions were found on the mediolateral axis. Finally, EMG analysis showed that dual-task condition modified the way anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) were generated. More specifically, we observed an increase of the peroneus longus activity, whereas the temporal EMG showed a decrease of its latency with respect to movement onset. These results suggested a functional adaptation resulting in an invariance of overall APAs, emphasizing that cognitive, postural, and motor processes worked dependently.

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PurposeThe main aim of the present study was to describe the development of a non-commercial biomechanical system designed for the simultaneous measurement of kinematic and kinetic parameters during a lower limb pointing task. The task was performed by two groups of soccer players (10 novices and 10 experts, aged 16-19 years) and the differences between the two groups, in terms of these parameters, were also assessed. MethodsThe calibration procedure of the combined system is presented in this paper. The system measured the Centre of Pressure (CoP) and body Center of Mass (CoM) displacements, kicking duration and the acceleration of the kicking leg. ResultsThe margin of error found for kinematic and kinetic calibration was less than 1%. Furthermore, the expert players presented decreased CoP and CoM displacements and kicking duration and acceleration of the kicking leg compared to the novices. ConclusionThe combined system provides an effective method for the simultaneous measurement of kinematic and kinetic parameters associated with kicking and may contribute to the development of intervention studies for the improvement of balance and kicking performance in sports.

O objetivo deste estudo é monitorar o serviço a respeito de quais ferramentas tecnológicas seriam mais eficientes para auxiliar no processo ensino-aprendizagem remoto durante a pandemia do Covid-19. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, com abordagem quantitativa um questionário estruturado em cinco questões. A amostra foi composta por 524 universitários, com idade entre 18 e 40 anos. Os resultados mostraram que o ensino remoto é uma ferramenta interessante e eficiente, indicando que tanto os docentes quanto os discentes adaptaram-se a essa nova realidade. O referido monitoramento poderá auxiliar a instituição no desenvolvimento da qualidade de suas decisões, na consolidação de processos e, consequentemente, dos resultados, podendo servir como parâmetro para análise em outras Instituições.