Biomechanical Assessment of the Canadian Integrated Load Carriage System using Objective Assessment Measures

The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of contributions by biomechanical testing to the design of the final Canadian Clothe the Soldier (CTS) load carriage (LC) system. The Load Carriage Simulator and Compliance tester were used during design of the CTS system for evaluation of: three fragmentation vests seven Tactical Vests and three iterations of the rucksack. Test data were compared to a data pool of previously tested systems. Results indicated that the objective measures helped the design team by: (1) understanding the consequences of various design changes; (2) predicting soldiers' responses to design changes in pressure, force and relative motion; (3) comparting this system objectively to other systems; and (4) providing information quickly so that ideas could be incorporated into the next design iteration. It was concluded that objective assessments added valuable information not easily interpreted from human trials. However, objective assessments cannot replace human trials for feedback on functionality and features. The original document contains color images. Pres: RTO Human Factors and Medicine Panel (HFM) Specialists' Meeting, Kingston, Canada, p21-1/21-12, 27-29 Jun 2000. This article is from ADA394945 Soldier Mobility: Innovations in Load Carriage System Design and Evaluation (la Mobilite du combattant: innovations dans la conception et l'evaluation des gilets d'intervention)