Abstract Summary
In animal movement, latches enhance the peak power (Pmax) a muscle-tendon (MT) unit transfers to a body mass by 1) providing a resistive force a muscle can shorten against and store energy in the elastic tissues and then 2) acting as a switch that releases the stored elastic energy at a great rate. We asked, can an antagonist muscle function as a latch? We investigated this question with a novel in vitro platform where two muscles interact across a virtual joint to drive an emulated body mass. We observed peak power enhancement when the agonist muscle was pre-stretched and had an effective mechanical advantage (EMA) of 0.10 (in-lever/out-lever). This new methodology allows us to identify feasibility of novel locomotor strategies and offers insights for designing wearable devices for rapid acceleration.
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