A feedback-controlled treadmill (treadmill-on-demand) and the spontaneous speed of walking and running in humans

Abstract

A novel apparatus, composed by a controllable treadmill, a computer, and an ultrasonic range finder, is here proposed to help investigation of many aspects of spontaneous locomotion. The acceleration or deceleration of the subject, detected by the sensor and processed by the computer, is used to accelerate or decelerate the treadmill in real time. The system has been used to assess, in eight subjects, the self-selected speed of walking and running, the maximum "reasonable" speed of walking, and the minimum reasonable speed of running at different gradients (from level up to +25%). This evidenced the speed range at which humans neither walk nor run, from 7.2 +/- 0.6 to 8.4 +/- 1.1 km/h for level locomotion, slightly narrowing at steeper slopes. These data confirm previous results, obtained indirectly from stride frequency recordings. The self-selected speed of walking decreases with increasing gradient (from 5.0 +/- 0.8 km/h at 0% to 3.0 +/- 0.9 km/h at +25%) and seems to be approximately 30% higher than the speed that minimizes the metabolic energy cost of walking, obtained from the literature, at all the investigated gradients. The advantages, limitations, and potential applications of the newly proposed methodology in physiology, biomechanics, and pathology of locomotion are discussed in this paper.

Comparing leaning-based motion cueing interfaces for virtual reality locomotion

“…The observed trend is consistent with the literature in that motion cueing can often enhance perception of self-motion [7], [11], [12], [25], [29], [46]. However, the lack of significant benefit of motion cueing on self-motion perception in the current study suggests the need for further development of these prototype-like interfaces.…”

“…User-powered motion cueing can help create a simple and relatively inexpensive locomotion system, whereas the classic approach of using computer-driven and motorized platforms requires large and expensive setups to create motion that is similar to real-world motion. Moreover, interfaces that utilize user-powered motion cueing can be less dangerous and technically complex than large motorized platforms, which often require safety harnesses [7], [8] because they use simple perceptual deceptions instead of physically moving users in order to give them the feeling of movement. For example, Beckhaus and Riecke both developed seated interfaces with active motion cueing so that users could navigate in 3D environments without the space requirements of larger physical system or where walking was infeasible [9]- [12].…”

Is movement variability important for sports biomechanists?

“…Wheat and his colleagues 2004;2005;Wheat, 2005) have reported comparisons of running overground, on a standard treadmill and on an on-demand treadmill, in which the belt speed adapts to the speed of the runner (Minetti et al, 2003). In their second study, the treadmill-on-demand, for which the treadmill speed is not constant, was added to the overground and treadmill conditions (Wheat, 2005;Wheat et al, 2005).…”

Gait selection in the ostrich: mechanical and metabolic characteristics of walking and running with and without an aerial phase

“…Nevertheless, while metabolic-energy consumption per se may not be the primary stimulus for eliciting gait transitions, this does not exclude the possibility that the speeds and associated gaits favourable to lowering the metabolic cost of locomotion have probably been selected for through evolution to make better use of the limited energy sources available. In this respect, it has been shown that humans and other animals will avoid those speeds that result in unnecessarily high costs of locomotion (Hoyt & Taylor 1981;Minetti et al 2003).…”