We know that the fastest man in this world right now is Usain Bolt, who has a top speed of 27.8 mph (44.72 km/hr). But even he, however, would be completely outran by the ostrich, the lion, brown hare, and the cheetah. Humans, apparently, are bad at running on foot. But what if we could double our running speed? This is what researchers Amanda Sutrisno and David Braun are thinking of.
The idea presented by Sutrisno and Braun is to build a device that attaches to the body to serve as an assist. The device would have springs, one for each leg. The springs would be pulled by leg action during air time. The knee joint serves as a hinge that extends the leg—it is during that extension that the spring would pull, storing energy that could be expended once the foot comes back to the ground. That energy would then be combined with normal muscle energy, allowing the foot to push back harder than normal against the ground, propelling the person forward faster than they would normally be able to achieve on their own. When the researchers ran simulations with such a device, they found that it could help people run nearly twice as fast as normal.
So, theoretically, if we put this device on Usain Bolt, he would be able to run much faster than the animals mentioned above, except the cheetah. However, this device would probably not be available in the real world for quite a while.
Unfortunately, there is a hitch with the idea: Materials such as carbon fiber lack the energy-holding capacity that would be needed to realize the device the team has envisioned. Something new will have to be developed before they are able to test their idea in the real world.
(Image Credit: Amanda Sutrisno and David J. Braun / Vanderbilt University)