Treadmill speed control
OwnerAdam Wilsoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A speed control system and method for controlling the speed of an endless belt loop of a treadmill. The speed control system comprises a plurality of image sensors, each image sensor configured to take an image of a user of the treadmill; and a controller configured to control the speed of the endless belt loop by (a) receiving the images of the user taken by the image sensors, (b) rectifying the images based on a calibration of the image sensors, (c) comparing the images to form a disparity map, (d) determining a distance of a user of the treadmill relative to the treadmill using the disparity map, and (e) calculating velocity or acceleration of the treadmill based on the determined distance of the user.
Claims15
A speed control system for controlling a speed of an endless belt loop of a treadmill, the speed control system comprising:
- a plurality of image sensors, each of the plurality of image sensors configured to take an image of a user of the treadmill;
- and
- a controller configured to control the speed of the endless belt loop by (a) receiving the images of the user taken by the plurality of image sensors, (b) rectifying the images based on a calibration of the plurality of image sensors, (c) comparing the images to form a disparity map, (d) determining a distance of the user of the treadmill relative to the treadmill using the disparity map, and (e) calculating velocity or acceleration of the treadmill based on the determined distance of the user.
A treadmill comprising:
- a platform;
- an endless belt loop supported on the platform so as to have an upper belt portion on which a user can stride;
- a plurality of image sensors, each of the plurality of image sensors configured to take an image of the user of the treadmill;
- and
- a speed control system configured to control the speed of the endless belt loop by (a) receiving the images of the user taken by the plurality of image sensors, (b) rectifying the images based on a calibration of the plurality of image sensors, (c) comparing the images to form a disparity map, (d) determining a distance of the user of the treadmill relative to the treadmill using the disparity map, and (e) calculating one or more control signals based on the determined distance of the user.
A method for controlling the speed of an endless belt loop of a treadmill comprising:
- receiving images of a user of the treadmill taken by a pair of image sensors;
- rectifying the images based on a calibration of the pair of image sensors;
- comparing the images to form a disparity map
- determining a distance of the user of the treadmill relative to the treadmill using the disparity map;
- and
- calculating a velocity or acceleration of the treadmill based on the determined distance of the user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.