Researchers model the physics of the pumping technique used to make air on a skateboard half-pipe

A team of engineers and mathematicians from ETH Zurich, together with colleagues from the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and the ATR Institute International, both in Japan, has successfully modeled the physics involved when humans pump on skateboards to reach the air while skating on a half-pipe.

In their article published in the journal Physical Examination ResearchThe group describes how they used a person swinging on a swing as an analog example to help them create their model, and how well it represented humans in action on a half-pipe.

A skating half-pipe is a structure usually made of wood or cement that is meant to mimic a pipe cut in half horizontally. The result is a valley shape with equally sized mountains on either side. Skaters climb onto the structure from one side or the other and use it as a starting point to perform skating moves.

The most basic move is simply to roll down one side of the tube, across the valley floor, and then back up the other side. At this point, the skater has the option of jumping to the other side or turning around and going back down. If the latter choice is made, repeatedly, the skater must take certain steps to continue moving forward.

These actions are known as push-ups, where the skateboarder manipulates their body in a way that propels the skateboard faster. It involves crouching down into the valley and then pushing upwards when the curve of the ramp is encountered, a motion similar to that used by children to keep a swing moving. If the skateboarder is able to accelerate enough, they can fly off after rolling onto the opposite side of the tube.

The team started by studying physical models of seesaws and pendulums, since they had already been developed. They then studied videos of skateboarders in action and used what they saw to add factors specific to a skater on a halfpipe, such as how he or she modulated his or her mass relative to the surface below, including the angle of the board against the pipe as he or she sought speed.

Once the model was built, they used it to find the optimal pumping technique, although they noted that it wouldn’t work in the real world because it would propel the skater out of the tube. The team concludes by suggesting that their model could likely serve as a tool to help robots learn how to maintain their balance when traversing hilly terrain.

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