Systems and methods for testing and characterizing ergonomic performance of flooring

A method comprising:

• applying a force to a stacked arrangement of a flooring material and a portion of a footwear article, the force being indicative of a bodyweight load, the flooring material being positioned beneath the portion of the footwear article;
• generating, by at least one sensor, at least one output in response to application of the force to the stacked arrangement, wherein the at least one output is indicative of energy absorbed by the stacked arrangement;
• determining, by a computing device in communication with a database comprising energy absorption properties of a plurality of shoe types, a shoe type that corresponds to the footwear article;
• and
• determining, by the computing device, a relative increase in energy absorption provided by the flooring material in comparison to the shoe type.

A system comprising:

• a force application assembly having:
• a contact structure;
• an actuator coupled to the contact structure and configured to effect movement of the contact structure along a first axis;
• and
• at least one sensor;
• at least one processor in communication with the at least one sensor;
• and
• memory in communication with the at least one processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
• receive at least one first output from the at least one sensor in response to application of force to a first sample by the force application assembly, wherein the first sample comprises at least a portion of a footwear article;
• receive at least one second output from the at least one sensor in response to application of force to a second sample by the force application assembly, wherein the second sample comprises a flooring material and the portion of a footwear article provided in a stacked configuration in which the flooring material is beneath the footwear article;
• and
• determine, based on said at least one first output and said at least one second output, at least one value comparing the at least one first output to the at least one second output.

A system comprising:

• a force application assembly having:
• a contact structure;
• an actuator coupled to the contact structure and configured to effect movement of the contact structure along a first axis;
• and
• at least one sensor;
• at least one processor in communication with the at least one sensor;
• and
• memory in communication with the at least one processor, wherein the memory comprises a database comprising energy absorption properties of a plurality of shoe types, wherein the memory comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
• receive at least one output from the at least one sensor in response to application of force to a stacked arrangement of a flooring material and at least a portion of a footwear article, wherein the at least one output is indicative of energy absorbed by the stacked arrangement;
• determine a shoe type that corresponds to the footwear article;
• and
• determine a relative increase in energy absorption provided by the flooring material in comparison to the shoe type.