JP2001061992A - Generation device of uneven face for walking - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a generation device of uneven face for walking of experiencing the uneven feeling of waling face, when the walker walks on it. SOLUTION: For the tread mill 1, the uneven face is composed of rising and falling of belt 11 partly with a rise and fall unit 14 and the action of walker's both feet is imaged with a video camera 3. The walking action is measured with an action measurement and position control part 53, and the movement by walker's walking is controlled to be canceled by the speed of belt 11, and the amount of rising and falling is controlled with a geographical features control part 54.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an uneven walking surface generating apparatus, and more particularly, to an uneven walking surface generating apparatus capable of experiencing a walking sensation as if walking on a staircase or a mountain road having unevenness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A treadmill has been conventionally known as a sports training facility or a walking training facility. A conventional treadmill runs a flat belt on which a pedestrian walks.

[0003] In addition, in order to give a change to walking training, the moving speed of the belt is varied, the entire belt is inclined, and the temperature and humidity of the surroundings are changed, so that the pedestrian can change in the actual natural environment. A walking surface generating device that gives a degree of fatigue equivalent to walking is proposed.

However, any treadmill has a flat belt surface, and it has not been conventionally considered to change the belt surface into a step-like shape or an uneven shape when walking on a mountain road.

[0005] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an uneven walking surface generation apparatus that allows a pedestrian to experience a feeling of unevenness of the walking surface when walking.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is
An uneven walking surface generation device that allows a pedestrian to experience a sense of unevenness of a floor surface by walking on the movable floor surface, which moves horizontally and partially moves up and down, and controls traveling of the movable floor surface. And control means.

[0007] The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the horizontal movement of the movable floor surface according to the invention of claim 1 cancels the movement of the pedestrian due to walking.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the present invention further includes a walking measuring means for measuring a pedestrian's walking motion on a movable floor surface, The output is supplied to the control means to control at least one of the horizontal movement and the vertical movement of the movable floor surface.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the control means according to the third aspect of the present invention comprises: a walking estimating means for estimating a walking speed and a walking position of a pedestrian according to detection of a walking motion by the walking measuring means; Speed control means for controlling the moving speed of the movable floor so that the pedestrian can walk at a predetermined position on the movable floor according to the estimation by the walking estimating means is included.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the third aspect of the present invention, a free leg state in which the foot is stepped forward based on the measurement output of the walking measuring means, and the body is supported while the foot supports the body. Toe motion discriminating means for discriminating a standing-down state with respect to the rear, and up-and-down motion controlling means for moving up and down a portion where the free leg touches the movable floor in accordance with the discrimination of the free leg state. including.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect, the apparatus further includes terrain information storage means for storing terrain information for moving the movable floor up and down in advance. In accordance with the discrimination of the state of the free leg, the vertical movement of the part where the free leg touches the movable floor is controlled based on the terrain information read from the terrain information storage means.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the constitutions of the first to sixth aspects, the movable floor has a belt mechanism whose surface forms a floor, and a portion serving as a floor of the belt mechanism. Driving a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering and a belt mechanism,
It includes a driving unit for moving the floor, and a unit for absorbing a slack when the floor of the belt mechanism is moved up and down by the elevating unit.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the detailed structure of the treadmill 1 will be described later with reference to FIGS.
However, only the schematic configuration will be described here. A drive mechanism 12 is provided on one side of the endless belt 11, and a tension mechanism 13 is provided on the other side. Below the flat portion of the belt 11, a plurality of elevating units 14, 14... Are provided.

The belt 11 is driven by the driving mechanism so as to move in the direction of the arrow (clockwise) in FIG. 1 to offset the movement of the pedestrian 2 walking in the left direction in FIG. Further, as the elevating unit 14 moves up and down, a partial uneven surface is formed on the flat portion of the belt 11, and the pedestrian 12 can experience a feeling of walking on an uneven surface such as a stair or a mountain path.

When the belt 11 is partially moved up and down by the elevating unit 14, the tension mechanism 13
The tension generated by absorbing the slack generated in 1 is kept constant, that is, the distance between the shafts is kept constant.

A video camera 3 is disposed in front of the treadmill 1, and the movement of the left and right toes of the pedestrian 2 is measured. Infrared reflective stickers 21 and 22 are attached to the tips of both feet of the pedestrian 2. These reflection seals 21 and 22 reflect infrared rays from an infrared lamp 4 disposed near the video camera 3, and the reflected light is imaged by the video camera 3 equipped with an infrared filter, so that the pedestrian can walk. The movement is measured.

In FIG. 1, the walking measuring means is constituted by the video camera 3, the infrared lamp 4, and the reflection seals 21 and 22. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a magnetic field is generated in front of the pedestrian 2. A device for causing the pedestrian to move may be arranged, and a magnetic sensor may be attached to the foot of the pedestrian, and the pedestrian's walking motion may be measured by the magnetic sensor, or the walking motion may be measured by other means.

Further, a computer 5 and a treadmill control device 6 are provided as control means. The computer 5 includes a central processing unit 51, a terrain management unit 52, an operation measurement and position control unit 53, and a terrain control unit 54. The central processing unit 51 controls the entire operation of the uneven walking surface generation device. The terrain management unit 52 stores the terrain information of the unevenness of the mountain road when simulating the treadmill 1 to walk on an uneven road such as a mountain road.

The motion measurement and position control unit 53 measures the walking motion of the pedestrian 2 based on the image output of the video camera 3, and also controls the belt 11 so that the pedestrian 2 always walks at the center position of the treadmill 1. A belt speed control signal for controlling the speed of the belt is output to the treadmill control device 6.

The terrain control unit 54 transmits a lifting unit control signal for raising and lowering the plurality of lifting units 14 of the treadmill 1 based on the walking operation information measured by the movement measurement and the position control unit 53, respectively. 6
Output to

The treadmill control device 6 drives the drive mechanism 12 based on the belt speed control signal output from the operation measurement and position control unit 53, and based on the elevation unit control signal output from the terrain control unit 54. hand,
The lifting unit 14 is raised and lowered.

Incidentally, which of the plurality of lifting units 14 of the treadmill 1 is in contact with the foot of the pedestrian can be determined based on the output of the video camera 3. Further, a pressure sensor provided on the belt 11 may be used, or there is a method of detecting a pedestrian's ground contact position by optical means using a stereo imaging camera. The output of detecting the contact position of the pedestrian detected by such a method is provided to the motion measurement and position control unit 53 and the terrain control unit 54 via the treadmill control device 6.

In addition, a video screen 7 and a speaker 8 are provided in front of the treadmill 1 so that the pedestrian 2 can actually experience walking in a natural environment. Images of the environment are displayed, as well as sounds of nature such as birdsong and the sound of water from the valley river, and sounds such as cheering at the stadium.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the speed control of the treadmill 1. FIG. 2A is a conceptual diagram of the speed control.
(B) is a flowchart of speed control.

In the speed control of the treadmill 1, the pedestrian 2
1. The toe position information is measured so that the movement of the body due to walking can be canceled without being conscious, and the walking can always be performed at a predetermined position near the center of the belt 11, and the driving mechanism 1 shown in FIG.
2, the speed of the belt 11 is controlled.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), when the pedestrian 2 starts walking on the treadmill 1, in a step (abbreviated as SP in the drawing) SP1, the video camera 3 Light reflected from the reflection seals 21 and 22 attached to the front end is detected. The video signal from the video camera 3 is given to the motion measurement and position control unit 53 of the computer 5, and the motion measurement and the position control unit 53 measure the motion information of the foot of the pedestrian 2 in step SP2.

In the walking operation of the pedestrian 2, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the pedestrian 2 is walking at a certain speed Vw, the pedestrian 2 is moved to a certain pedestrian holding target on the treadmill 1. It must be kept at position X0. Ideally, the object can be achieved by running the belt 11 in the opposite direction at a speed completely linked to the walking speed. However, since it is difficult to directly measure the walking speed on the belt 11, the driving mechanism 12 of the treadmill 1 is controlled by estimating the walking speed from the walking operation of the pedestrian 2. The belt speed command Vb, which is a control amount, is determined from the following two types of feedforward F1 (feedback related to walking speed) and F2 (PI feedback related to walking position).

First, the feed forward F1 will be described. In step SP3, the walking speed is estimated from the measurable standing time. Here, the standing time is a mode in which one foot touches the ground when walking, and moves backward relative to the body. On the other hand, a mode in which a foot that has fallen backward during swinging is swung forward is called a free leg mode, and walking is a motion in which the standing leg and the free leg are alternately repeated with left and right legs.
Here, when the standing time and the free leg time are measured from the actual walking motion, the standing time is almost proportional to the walking speed regardless of the pedestrian 2 by the equation as shown in the equation (1). found.

Vw '= a / T + b (1) where Vw' is the estimated direction speed, T is the stance time, and a and b are constants.

Strictly speaking, the constants a and b have individual differences.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the user moves the belt in advance at a constant speed to have the user walk, and has an adjustment function that adjusts these parameters to match the walking characteristics of the individual.

Next, a description will be given of a method of determining the standing / swinging mode of the toe motion. Here, the reflective seals 21 and 22 are attached to the positions of both feet of the pedestrian 2, and are optically reflected by the video camera 3 installed in front.
Measure 2. Then, the obtained detection signals P _L and P _R of both feet are temporally differentiated to calculate speed information of both,
When compared with the separately measured belt speed information, the standing / swinging mode of the toe motion can be determined. Based on this time information, the walking state on the belt 11 is analyzed, and the walking speed Vw 'is estimated by the regression equation obtained from the above-described measurement, and the feedforward regarding the speed is performed.

Here, F1 = −α · Vw ′ (2) in consideration of the estimation error and the time delay. Here, α is a coefficient.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of correcting the pedestrian speed estimated value by the primary hold. In this embodiment, the walking speed estimation is performed only when one of the feet lands, but in order to follow the continuously changing walking speed with as small an error as possible, a first order as shown in FIG. It is configured continuously using a hold. The primary hold method used here uses the latest estimated value as Vw '
(N), the previous estimation value is Vw '(n-1),
The elapsed time from the measurement of Vw ′ (n) to the present is Δ
Assuming that the time from estimating t, Vw '(n-1) to estimating Vw' (n) is ΔT, the current corrected estimated walking speed Vw 'is expressed by the following equation.

Vw ′ = Vw ′ (n) + {Vw ′ (n) −Vw ′ (n−1)} · Δt / ΔT (3) However, although the responsiveness is greatly improved in the feedforward control, The position error is caused by the estimation error that still occurs and the time delay of the response of the mechanism unit. Therefore, the feedback F2 about the walking position is usually added.

Regarding F2, steps SP5 and S5
In P6, the primary control by PI feedback is performed using the distance error e between the position X of the pedestrian 2 on the belt 11 and the pedestrian holding target position X0 as a parameter. Here, the pedestrian position X is the midpoint in the walking direction of both toe positions obtained by the video camera 3 described above.

Here, X '= (Pl + Pr) / 2 (4) e = X'-X0 (5) F2 = β · e + γ · ∫edt (6) Here, β and γ are coefficients.

In the expression (4), P _L and P _R are the foot positions of the pedestrian 2. The calculation of F2 is continuously performed every time the pedestrian's toe position information is updated. In summary, the belt speed command Vb can be defined by the following equation.

Vb = F1 + F2 (7) The coefficients α, β and γ are constants determined within a range where the control does not diverge.

A speed control signal based on the above-mentioned belt speed command Vb is supplied to the treadmill control device 6, and the treadmill 6 drives the drive mechanism 12.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining the lifting / lowering control operation of the lifting / lowering unit. In particular, FIG. 4A is a conceptual diagram of the operation, FIG. Indicates the hour control mode.

As described in the above-described speed control, the movement of the pedestrian's toes can be explained by focusing on one leg, the free leg state in which the foot is stepped forward, and the leg supporting the body while supporting the body. Is alternately repeated. The motion measurement and position control unit 53 independently measures the free leg mode and the standing mode for each foot. The terrain control unit 54 shown in FIG. 1 simultaneously performs the free leg control mode shown in FIG. 4B and the standing control mode shown in FIG. 4C in parallel with the speed control described in FIG. To process.

That is, step SP shown in FIG.
When the foot position of the free leg is measured to determine which toe moves forward in step 11, the terrain control unit 54 proceeds to step SP12.
In, the terrain information to be simulated under the idle leg is acquired from the terrain management unit 52 via the central processing unit 51.
Then, in step SP13, the terrain control unit 54, based on the terrain information, moves the lifting unit
And outputs an elevating unit control signal to the treadmill control device 6 for controlling the amount of elevating and lowering. The treadmill control device 6 responds to the control signal to the corresponding lifting unit 1
4 is controlled.

The motion measurement and position control unit 53 always monitors that the free leg touches the ground at the same time, and if it is observed in step SP14 that the free leg touches the ground, the standing control mode shown in FIG. Move on to

It should be noted that the determination of the contact with the ground is made, for example, when the movement speed of the toe becomes equal to the movement speed of the belt 11 of the treadmill 1.

When the other leg is a free leg, the other leg is standing, and terrain control is performed in the standing control mode. That is, in step SP21 of FIG. 4C, the movement measurement and position control unit 53 measures the amount of elevation of the standing toe, and in step SP22, the amount of elevation of the standing leg is Return to the reference position until it drops to. Here, the reference position is the lifting unit 14
Does not move up and down.

At this time, the terrain controller 54 controls the treadmill 1
Always measures the elevation unit 14 whose foot is in contact with the ground based on the pedestrian's contact position detection output provided via the treadmill control device 6, and controls the elevation unit 14 to be controlled and the amount of elevation. .

Further, the motion measurement and position control unit 53 always monitors that the standing leg is leaving the floor at the same time, and when the leaving floor is observed, the terrain control unit 54 shifts to the free leg control mode in step SP23.

The leaving of the floor is determined, for example, when the moving speed of the toe is higher than the moving speed of the belt 11 of the treadmill 1.

In some cases, the standing leg and the free leg may overlap under the body. In this case, the standing control mode is prioritized.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the movement of the lifting unit of the treadmill. In FIG. 5, positioning rollers 31, 32 and 33, 34 are provided on the drive mechanism 12 side and the tension mechanism 13 side, respectively, and the reference position of the belt 11 is positioned by these positioning rollers 31 to 34. You. Positioning roller 3
For example, six lifting units 14, 14,... Are provided between 1, 32 and 33, 34.

Each lifting unit 14 has a supporting roller 15
And the pressing roller 16 are provided, and the belt 11 passes between the supporting roller 15 and the pressing roller 16.
The support roller 15 supports the belt 1 with a length substantially equal to the width of the belt 11, but the pressing rollers 16 are provided to face both ends of the belt 11. The lifting unit 14 is moved up and down by a lifting mechanism (not shown), and irregularities are formed on a portion of the belt 11 that is in contact with the surface of the lifting unit 14 that moves up and down.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a more specific embodiment of the treadmill, and FIG. 7 is a front view thereof.

6 and 7, the driving mechanism 12
Is composed of a drive motor 121, a drive belt 122, and a drive roller 123, and the belt 11 made of, for example, rubber contacts the outer peripheral surface of the drive roller 123 and moves. The tension mechanism 13 includes the air cylinder 1
31 supports the tension roller 132 by the support 31
33 is driven to absorb the slack of the belt 11 stretched between the drive roller 123 and the tension roller 132 to apply tension.

The positioning rollers 31 to 34 described with reference to FIG. 5 are arranged on the drive roller 123 side and the tension roller 132 side, respectively. Positioning rollers 31,
Between the lower frame 101 and the upper frame 102 between the upper and lower frames 32 and 33, 34 respectively.
A column 103 for ascending and descending the column 4 is attached, and the elevating unit 14 moves up and down along the column 103.

As shown in FIG. 7, a driving mechanism for raising and lowering the lifting unit 14 is a pair of left and right lifting units 1.
4 and 14, one motor 104 and drive shaft 106
And ball screws 105, 105.
Then, the rotational force of the motor 104 is transmitted to the ball screws 105 via the drive shaft 106, and the ball screw 10
The rotational force is converted into driving force for driving the lifting units 14 and 14 up and down by 5 and 105.

Further, three support rollers 151, 152, 153 are provided between the pair of right and left elevating units 14, and further, the support rollers 151 and 152 and 152 and 1 are provided.
Between them, auxiliary rollers 171 and 172 are provided. These are provided to maintain flatness when a pedestrian walks on the belt 11. Further, two pairs of pressing rollers 161 and 162 are provided on the pair of left and right elevating units 14 and 14 so as to face each other.

Since the operation of the treadmill 1 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is the same as that of FIG. 5, detailed description will be omitted.

In the treadmill 1 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the width of the lifting unit 14 in the traveling direction of the belt 11 is preferably selected in units of a pitch substantially equal to or less than the length of an adult's foot. When this width increases, the belt 11
This is because the irregularities become too large on the top.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, six elevating units 14 are provided on each of the left and right sides. However, if the number of the elevating units 14 is further increased and the width of the elevating unit 14 is reduced, the size of the unevenness is further reduced. There is a merit that you can walk on a fine uneven surface.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the belt 11 is made of rubber and is
1, 152, 153 and the auxiliary rollers 171, 172 are designed to withstand the weight of the pedestrian 2, but the invention is not limited to this, and a belt mechanism such as a so-called endless track such as a caterpillar may be used. Good. In this case, it is only necessary to provide a roller capable of supporting the endless track at both ends in the width direction without using a supporting roller or an auxiliary roller for supporting the weight of the pedestrian.

In each of the above embodiments, the support roller is moved up and down by the lifting unit 14. However, not only can the support roller be moved up and down, but also the support roller can be tilted back and forth and left and right with respect to the traveling direction. May be
Next, such an embodiment will be described.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of such an embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a view showing a state where a belt is arranged on the support roller shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, the lifting unit 200 includes
In the same way as in the example shown in FIG.
1, 202, 203 and auxiliary rollers 211, 212 are provided. Although not shown, the lifting unit 20
At 0, a holding roller is provided as in FIG. Below the four corners of the lifting unit 200,
There is provided an air cylinder 221 for inclining the front and rear with respect to the traveling direction.

The elevating unit 200 thus configured
When a rubber belt 11 as shown in FIG. 9 is arranged above,
The floor surface can be changed so as to wave back and forth, left and right, and it becomes possible for a pedestrian to perform walking training on a complicated walking surface.

Further, as another embodiment of the present invention,
A blower is provided in front of or behind treadmill 1,
A headwind or tailwind may be applied to the pedestrian 2, or an air conditioner may be provided to control the temperature and humidity so that the pedestrian can be trained with a feeling of fatigue.

Further, the above-mentioned feeling of fatigue given to the pedestrian may be controlled while measuring the physical condition of the pedestrian 2 such as heartbeat and respiration accompanying the walking motion.

As a more preferred embodiment, a means for inclining the floor of the belt mechanism forward, backward, left and right with respect to the traveling direction is included. The elevating means is arranged in units of a pitch substantially equal to or less than the length of an adult's foot.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention, a movable floor surface which travels while the floor surface partially moves up and down is constituted,
When a pedestrian walks on it, an uneven feeling as if walking on stairs or a mountain path can be experienced.

Therefore, such a directional sensory device is not limited to sports training equipment, but can be used for rehabilitation for the elderly and the physically handicapped,
The present invention can be applied to various fields such as an amusement facility simulating an outdoor walk as an alternative in a case where it is impossible to exercise outdoors.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating speed control of a treadmill.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of correcting a directional speed using a primary hold.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an elevating control operation of the elevating unit.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the movement of an elevating unit of the treadmill.

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of a more specific embodiment of the treadmill.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of an embodiment in which the elevating unit can be tilted back and forth and right and left.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a state where a belt is arranged on the elevating unit shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 treadmill, 2 pedestrian, 3 video camera, 4
Infrared lamp, 5 computer, 6 treadmill control device, 7 video display, 8 speakers, 11 belt, 12 drive mechanism, 13 tension mechanism, 14,
200 lifting unit, 15,151,152,15
3, 201, 202, 203 Supporting rollers, 16, 16
1,162 pressing roller, 21,22 reflective seal, 3
1 to 34 positioning rollers, 51 central processing unit, 52 terrain management unit, 53 operation measurement and position control unit, 54 terrain control unit, 103 support, 104 motor, 105 ball screw, 121 drive motor, 122 belt, 12
3 drive roller, 131,221 air cylinder, 1
32 tension roller, 133 support base, 171,1
72, 211, 212 Auxiliary rollers.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Sugihara 5th Sanpani, Inaya, Seika-cho, Kyoto, Japan No. 5, Sanraya, Seiya-cho, Gunma-cho, Gunma, Japan A / T Intelligence Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An uneven walking surface generating apparatus which allows a pedestrian to experience a sense of unevenness of a floor surface by walking on the movable floor surface, the movable floor surface moving horizontally and partially moving up and down; An uneven walking surface generation device, comprising: a control unit configured to control an operation of a surface. 2. The uneven walking surface generation device according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal movement of the movable floor surface offsets the movement of the pedestrian due to walking. 3. A walking measuring means for measuring a walking motion of the pedestrian on the movable floor, wherein a measurement output of the walking measuring means is supplied to the control means, and a level of the movable floor is measured. The uneven walking surface generation device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of movement and vertical movement is controlled. 4. The pedestrian estimating means for estimating a walking speed and a walking position of the pedestrian in response to detection of a walking motion by the gait measuring means; The uneven walking surface generation according to claim 3, further comprising speed control means for controlling a moving speed of the movable floor surface so that the pedestrian can walk at a predetermined position on the movable floor surface. apparatus. 5. A toe movement for discriminating between a free leg state in which the foot is stepped forward and a standing state in which the foot falls backward with respect to the body while supporting the body, based on the measurement output of the walking measurement means. Discriminating means, and up and down movement control means for vertically moving a portion where the free leg touches the movable floor surface in accordance with that the free leg state is discriminated by the toe motion discriminating means. Do
The uneven walking surface generation device according to claim 3. 6. A terrain information storage unit for storing terrain information for moving the movable floor up and down in advance, wherein the up / down movement control unit responds to the discrimination of the idle state. The uneven walking surface according to claim 5, wherein the up and down movement of a portion where the free leg touches the movable floor surface is controlled based on the terrain information read from the terrain information storage means. Generator. 7. The movable floor has a belt mechanism whose surface forms the floor, an elevating means for elevating and lowering a portion of the belt mechanism serving as the floor, and driving the belt mechanism. Driving means for moving the floor, and means for absorbing a slack when the floor of the belt mechanism is moved up and down by the elevating means,
An uneven walking surface generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.