Verification of opensim pelvic residuals in seated cycling with handlebar and seatpost load cells

OpenSim was primarily developed for gait analysis in which external loads are only applied to the feet. When analyzing cycling in OpenSim, loads from the handlebars and seat are omitted as inputs. This study aims to investigate if OpenSim’s residual reduction algorithm (RRA) is capable of accounting for these loads by comparing the RRA pelvic residual force to an experimentally determined handlebar and seat equivalent (HBSE). Comparison of RRA to HBSE for five participants revealed root mean squared errors (RMSEs) ranging from 2.0% to 4.2% body weight. These results suggest that RRA can be used to accurately model cycling biomechanics.