Runners know the importance of finding the perfect pair of shoes to enhance their performance. Still, searching for the ideal fit might become a lot easier, thanks to a model developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers.
This model predicts how specific shoe properties impact a runner's performance, offering a potential game-changer for both seasoned marathoners and beginners embarking on a couch-to-5K journey.
In a study, MIT engineers Jennifer Chu and Professor Anette "Peko" Hosoi introduced a simple yet powerful model. It considers a runner's unique characteristics, such as height, weight, and other dimensions, along with essential shoe properties like stiffness and midsole springiness.
By inputting this data, the model simulates the runner's gait in various shoes, helping identify the pair that minimizes expended energy and optimizes performance.
While the model excels at comparing vastly different shoe types, it struggles with similar designs in most commercial running shoes. However, the MIT team envisions its model as a valuable tool for sneaker designers pushing the boundaries of innovation.
Sarah Fay, a postdoc in MIT's Sports Lab and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, highlighted the potential impact on the evolving world of shoe design: "Shoe designers are starting to 3D print shoes, meaning they can now make them with a much wider range of properties than with just a regular slab of foam. Our model could help them design really novel shoes that are also high-performing."
The researchers aim to refine the model, hoping that one day, consumers can leverage a user-friendly version to pick shoes tailored to their individual running styles. Fay envisions a future where sending a video of oneself running could result in a 3D-printed custom shoe, representing a groundbreaking leap in personalized athletic footwear.
The MIT team's model stemmed from collaborations with the sneaker industry, particularly those exploring 3D printing on a commercial scale. As 3D-printed midsoles gained popularity, they offered intricate and customizable designs, and designers sought guidance on optimizing shoe properties.
Drawing inspiration from biomechanics pioneer Thomas McMahon, the MIT researchers used a simplified "spring and damper" model to represent a runner's essential gait mechanics. This model, though basic, provided meaningful insights into designing for athletic performance, similar to McMahon's groundbreaking work in the 1970s.
Cracking the code of gait cost
Fay and Hosoi's model goes beyond basic dimensions and shoe properties, incorporating a unique factor they term the "biological cost function." This subconscious goal, familiar to most runners, involves minimizing two costs: the impact of feet with the treadmill and the energy expended by the legs.
By programming the model to optimize these factors, the researchers gained confidence in predicting a runner's gait across different shoes.
In the final step, the team simulated a variety of shoe styles, using the model to predict a runner's gait efficiency for each type. As Professor Hosoi puts it, this quantitative approach provides designers with a mathematical understanding to "kickstart new ideas" for designing shoes tailored to specific races, such as a 10K versus a marathon.
This research, supported in part by Adidas and reported in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, showcases MIT's commitment to advancing athletic performance and the future of personalized, innovative sneaker design.
As MIT engineers pave the way, the dream of every runner having their perfect pair of shoes might just be a 3D print away.
Originally published on Interesting Engineering : Original article