# Research on Kinematic Parameters of Multiple Gait Pattern Transitions
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Protocol  
Participants were familiarized with the procedure before the actual start of the experiment, which required the participants to start walking from one end of the experimental platform in a standing position each time and to always strike the surface of the next gait pattern with the right limb first (that is, the right limb was always the leading limb). The gait patterns are listed in Table 1. Participants completed level walking (L), stair walking (S), ramp walking (R), level walking to up-stair walking transition (L-S UP), level walking to down-stair walking transition (L-S DOWN), up-stair walking to level walking transition (S-L DOWN), level walking to up-ramp walking transition (L-R UP), level walking to down-ramp walking transition (L-R DOWN), up-ramp walking to level walking transition (R-L UP), and down-ramp walking to level walking transition (R-L DOWN) at a self-selected speed on the four experimental platforms, as shown in Figure 1. Two kinds of experiments were carried out on each platform from the two ends of the platform. Each kind of experiment was a complete continuous process, including gait before transition stride, transition stride, and gait after transition stride. For example, one kind of experiment on one platform collected the data of three kinds of gait at the same time: level walking, level walking to up-stair walking transition, and up-stair walking. Similarly, another kind of experiment on this platform collected the data of down-stair walking, down-stair walking to level walking transition, and level walking at the same time. The experimental platform consisted of a footpath with a length of 4300 mm and a width of 1200 mm; a platform with a length of 2000 mm, a width of 800 mm, and a height of 640 mm; a 16\({}^{\circ}\) slope with a length of 2240 mm and a height of 640 mm composed of multiple steps; and a four-step staircase composed of multiple steps with each step 160 mm in height, 800 mm in width, and 280 mm in depth. Finally, this was according to the actual experimental needs to combine the experimental platform.  
Data were collected from five trials of participants for each kind of experiment. The complete gait pattern transition stage (transition strides) was defined from the last heel  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**No.** & **The Abbreviated Gait Patterns** & **The Meaning of Gait Patterns** \\ \hline
1 & L & level walking \\
2 & S & stair walking \\
3 & R & ramp walking \\
4 & L-S UP & level walking to up-stair walking transition \\
5 & L-S DOWN & level walking to down-stair walking transition \\
6 & S-L UP & up-stair walking to level walking transition \\
7 & S-L DOWN & down-stair walking to level walking transition \\
8 & L-R UP & level walking to up-ramp walking transition \\
9 & L-R DOWN & level walking to down-ramp walking transition \\
10 & R-L UP & up-ramp walking to level walking transition \\
11 & R-L DOWN & down-ramp walking to level walking transition \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: The abbreviation of gait patterns.  
Figure 1: Experimental platform: (**a**) level walking to up-ramp walking and down-ramp walking to level walking; (**b**) up-ramp walking to level walking and level walking to down-ramp walking; (**c**) level walking to up-stair walking and down-stair walking to level walking; and (**d**) up-stair walking to level walking and level walking to down-stair walking.  
(toe) strike of the trailing limb in the former gait pattern to the first heel (toe) strike of the trailing limb in the next gait pattern. For example, level to up-stair transition was defined as the last heel strike of the trailing limb on the level to the first heel (toe) strike of the trailing limb on the stair. Here, due to the fact that the toe touches the surface first in the process of stair walking [19], this situation was taken into account in the transition between level walking and stair walking.