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Clinical Trial
. 2015 Sep 17;15(9):23667-83.
doi: 10.3390/s150923667.

Commercial Motion Sensor Based Low-Cost and Convenient Interactive Treadmill

Jonghyun Kim  1 , Andrew Gravunder  2 , Hyung-Soon Park  3
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Commercial Motion Sensor Based Low-Cost and Convenient Interactive Treadmill

Jonghyun Kim et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Interactive treadmills were developed to improve the simulation of overground walking when compared to conventional treadmills. However, currently available interactive treadmills are expensive and inconvenient, which limits their use. We propose a low-cost and convenient version of the interactive treadmill that does not require expensive equipment and a complicated setup. As a substitute for high-cost sensors, such as motion capture systems, a low-cost motion sensor was used to recognize the subject's intention for speed changing. Moreover, the sensor enables the subject to make a convenient and safe stop using gesture recognition. For further cost reduction, the novel interactive treadmill was based on an inexpensive treadmill platform and a novel high-level speed control scheme was applied to maximize performance for simulating overground walking. Pilot tests with ten healthy subjects were conducted and results demonstrated that the proposed treadmill achieves similar performance to a typical, costly, interactive treadmill that contains a motion capture system and an instrumented treadmill, while providing a convenient and safe method for stopping.

Keywords: convenience; interactive treadmill; locomotion; low-cost; motion sensor; self-paced treadmill; treadmill-on-demand; walking.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Specialized high-cost treadmills have been used in previous interactive treadmills (ITMs). (a) Large custom-made treadmill; (b) Instrumented treadmill.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Description of the interactive treadmill.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Skeleton model and landmarks of Xtion motion sensor [22].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Implementation of proposed ITM. (a) Component combination (b) Location of Xtion motion sensor [22].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Experimental setup: handrails and visual biofeedback [22].
Figure 6
Figure 6
A typical walking speed profile and zones of treadmill walking on the proposed ITM in this experiment.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Quantitative comparison of three parameters at slow/fast zones with two ITMs (Pro: the proposed ITM; Typ: the typical ITM) (a) Slow zone; (b) Fast zone.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Quantitative comparison of two parameters at acceleration/deceleration zones with two ITMs (Pro: the proposed ITM; Typ: the typical ITM) (a) Acceleration zone; (b) Deceleration zone.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Results of qualitative feedback (Pro: the proposed ITM; Typ: the typical ITM). (a) Level of similarity to overground walking; (b) Level of safety of developed stopping method.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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