JP2002159593A - Walking feeling presenting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a walking feeling presenting device capable of simulating the road surface condition that feet are slipped or the like. SOLUTION: A tread mill 2 of a walking feeling presenting device 1 is formed by densely arranging plural rollers 35 in parallel with each other. Each roller 35 is separately driven for rotation by a servo motor 30. Each roller 35 is supported at both sides thereof by a cylinder 31 freely to be elevated. The rollers 35 are rotated to give the walking feeling to a user 6 on the rollers. The surface condition that the user slips can be presented to the user 6 by changing the speed of the rollers 35, on which the user 6 lands. The irregular road surface configuration can be simulated by controlling the vertical position of the rollers. The walking feeling on the irregular road surface can be presented by moving this road surface configuration backward at the walking speed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a walking sensation presentation device used for measuring, for example, the ability of a human to walk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art VR (Virtual Reality) or VE (Vir
BACKGROUND ART A walking sensation presentation device that presents a walking sensation to a user is used in artificial virtual space technology such as tual environments. For example, a walking sensation presentation device using a treadmill is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2923493, “A walking sensation generation device”. The treadmill used for this is configured by winding an endless belt around a plurality of rollers. A user rides on the belt, and moves the belt backward in accordance with the user's walking. Thereby, it is possible to simulate the state of actually walking. In addition, it is also possible to simulate an inclined ground by inclining the entire treadmill.

[0003]

For example, when trying to simulate a road surface condition in which the foot slips on ice, the speed of the portion on which the foot is placed is partially changed so that the foot spreads. It is possible to simulate a state in which a foot slips. However, since the above-described conventional walking sensation presentation device uses a belt, the entire upper surface of the treadmill moves at a constant speed, and it is impossible to partially change the speed. This made it impossible to simulate road conditions such as on ice.

[0004] In addition, since it has a configuration in which a belt is wound around the roller, it is difficult to simulate a large front and rear step such as a stair.

An object of the present invention is to provide a walking sensation presentation device capable of simulating a road surface condition such as slipping of a foot.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plurality of rods which are arranged substantially horizontally in parallel, whose outer peripheral portion rotates around a predetermined rotation axis, and on which a user is mounted. A rotating body, a rotating drive source provided for each rotating body and individually rotating and driving each rotating body, and a rotating body by controlling each rotating drive source and individually controlling the rotating speed of each rotating body. A walking sensation presentation device characterized by including a rotating body rotation speed control means for presenting a user walking on top with a sense of a predetermined road surface condition.

According to the present invention, a road surface is formed by a plurality of rotating bodies arranged in parallel, and the rotation of each rotating body is individually controlled. Thus, for example, when all the rollers are rotating at a constant speed, only the rotating body of the forefoot that lands is rotated relatively slower than the surrounding rotating body, so that the landed foot slides forward. The sense can be presented to the user. In this way, it is possible to simulate on ice.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rotator whose outer peripheral portion rotates has a cylindrical shape, and has a roller which is integrally rotated as a whole or a rotatable belt on the outer peripheral portion, It is characterized in that it is a belt type rotating body for rotating this belt around a rotation axis.

According to the present invention, the configuration can be simplified by using a cylindrical roller as the rotating body. Further, a structure may be adopted in which a belt is provided on the outer periphery as a rotating body and the belt is rotated. Thereby, the cross section of the rotating body can be, for example, a square. That is, the upper surfaces of the rotating bodies arranged in parallel can be made flat, and a flat road surface can be simulated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevating drive source provided for each rotating body for individually lifting and lowering each rotating body;
A rotating body lifting / lowering control means for controlling the lifting / lowering driving source such that a walking surface connecting the upper surfaces of the plurality of rotating bodies has a predetermined surface shape is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to simulate a road surface having a complicated shape by individually moving a plurality of rotating bodies up and down.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the rotating body elevation control means controls the elevation drive source so as to simulate a front-rear or left-right inclined road surface.

According to the present invention, it is possible to form front and rear or left and right inclined surfaces by individually controlling the vertical position of the rotating body.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the rotator elevating control means includes an elevating drive source such that the set road surface shape moves backward at the same speed as the walking speed of the user on the rotator. Is controlled.

According to the present invention, the set road surface shape is
Since the vehicle is controlled to move backward at the same speed as the moving speed of the user, the user feels as if walking on the set road surface shape. In this way, walking on an arbitrary road surface shape can be simulated.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an artificial environment system using a walking sensation presentation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The artificial environment system is a system that artificially generates various environments, and is used, for example, when measuring the physical strength of a human walking in various environments, or in various training, rehabilitation, and amusement devices.

The artificial environment system is a walking sensation presentation device 1 for presenting a walking sensation according to an environment to be generated to a user 6.
And a display device 4 for displaying an image according to the environment, and a speaker 5 for generating sound according to the environment. Also, although not shown, the air conditioner is controlled according to the environment to be generated,
Temperature and humidity may be controlled, a wind may be generated using a fan, and rain or snow may be artificially dropped.

The walking sensation presentation device 1 has a treadmill 2 and a control device 3, and the treadmill 2 has a plurality of rollers closely arranged in parallel, on which a user 6 walks. I do. The control device 3 controls the entire system including the treadmill 2, the display device 4, and the speaker 5, and controls the entire system, and controls the entire system.
Treadmill control device 1 for controlling treadmill 2
And 3. The general control computer 12 is instructed as an environment to be generated, for example, a desert or an ice field,
Video data, audio data,
And walking sensation data. CG (computer graphic) display computer 15 that has received the video data
Calculates a CG image to be displayed to the user 6 based on this data, and displays it on the display unit 4. The display unit 4 has a projector 21 and a screen 20 and presents an image according to the environment to the front of the user 6. The image to be displayed is
It is not limited to CG but may be a live-action video.

The power amplifier 14 to which the sound data is given from the general control computer 12 amplifies the sound data and outputs it from the speaker 5. As a result, a sound corresponding to the generated environment is presented to the user.

The treadmill 2 includes an electric servomotor 30 serving as a rotary drive source provided for each roller, and a hydraulic cylinder 31 (hereinafter, referred to as a cylinder 31) provided as a drive source for raising and lowering each roller. Abbreviated), a user position detecting device 1 for detecting the position of the user 6
0 and a load detecting device 11 for detecting a load.
The rotation drive source may be realized by a hydraulic motor. Also,
The lifting drive source may be realized by a ball screw or the like. The treadmill control device 13 controls the treadmill 2 based on walking sensation data from the general control computer, user position data from the user position detection device 10, and load data from the load detection device 11.

Servo motor 30 provided for each roller
Is controlled by a roller rotation speed control unit 18, and the cylinder 31 is controlled by a cylinder up / down position control unit 19 provided in the control device 3.

The treadmill control device 13 reproduces the road surface of the environment to be generated into a surface shape and a road surface state on the treadmill 2 based on the walking sensation data from the general control computer 12. More specifically, the treadmill control device 13 calculates surface shape data and road surface state data from walking sensation data, and
The walking speed of the user 6 is calculated based on 0, and the load acting on the treadmill 2 from the foot of the user 6 is calculated based on the load detecting device 11. Then, the surface shape data and the walking speed are given to the surface shape control unit 16.

The surface shape is reproduced at the upper and lower positions of each roller of the treadmill 2. Further, in order to provide the user 6 with an artificial environment while walking, the road surface needs to be moved backward at the walking speed of the user 6. The walking speed is controlled by the rotation speed of each roller. That is, the rotation speed of the outer peripheral surface of the roller is controlled so as to be substantially equal to the walking speed of the user 6.

The surface shape control unit 16 controls the cylinder elevation position control unit 19 based on the surface shape data from the treadmill control device 13 to generate the surface shape of the road surface, and controls the roller rotation speed control unit 18. While controlling, the rollers are rotated at the walking speed of the user 6, and the cylinder elevating / lowering position control unit 19 is controlled so that the generated road surface shape moves rearward. In other words, the surface shape of the formed road surface moves backward at the same speed as the walking speed, so that the user 6 can feel that he or she is actually walking.

The road surface condition is the soil or surface condition of the generated road surface. Soil quality is represented by how much the ground on which your feet are submerged. The surface condition means whether the foot slips or does not slip, and this is performed by changing the rotation speed of the roller of the foot that has landed or the roller of the foot that is depressed to raise the foot. The road surface state control will be described later in more detail with reference to FIGS.

In summary, the treadmill control device 13 calculates road surface condition data based on the walking sensation data from the general control computer 12, and based on the walking position detecting device 10, the walking speed and the walking speed of the user 6. The roller at the landing point and the roller at the position where the foot is to be raised are calculated, the load acting on each roller is calculated based on the load detection device 11, and these data are given to the road surface state control unit 17. The road surface state control unit 17 simulates a road surface state that is set by changing the rotation speed of these roller positions based on the road surface state data, the roller position of the landing foot, and the roller position of the foot to be raised. The controller 18 controls the roller rotation speed controller 18. Also, based on the load acting on the roller at the position of the foot to land and the roller at the position of the foot to be stepped on, the cylinder elevating position control unit controls these rollers to move up and down simulating the hardness of the set road surface condition. 1
9 is controlled.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the treadmill 2,
FIG. 3 is a front view, and FIG. 4 is a side view. The structure of the treadmill 2 will be described with reference to these drawings. In the treadmill 2, a plurality of rollers 35 are densely arranged in parallel, and the user 6 walks on the arranged rollers 35. The outer diameter of the roller 35 is 50 mm in this embodiment.
φ, the length is 1.2 m, and 41 are provided.

At one end of each roller, a servomotor 30 for rotating the roller is mounted. Further, cylinders 31 are attached to both ends of each roller 35. The cylinder 31 is disposed vertically, and the end of the roller 35 is connected to the tip of the piston rod so as to be angularly displaceable. Further, each cylinder 31 is provided with a height position detection sensor 36 for detecting the height position of the roller 35 from the amount of expansion and contraction of the cylinder 31. As the position detection sensor 36, for example, a potentiometer, a magnetostrictive sensor, or the like can be used. The cylinder up / down position control unit 19 individually controls the height position of the roller 35 based on the height position detection sensor 36.

In this manner, the hydraulic cylinders 35 are individually controlled by the cylinder elevating position control unit 19, for example, so that the roller 35 in front of the user 6 is made higher and the roller 35 becomes lower toward the rear. By controlling the height position of the roller 35, an upwardly inclined road surface can be formed. In addition, a reverse slope can be formed by reversing the direction.

The roller 35 can be inclined left and right by providing a difference in the amount of expansion and contraction of the left and right cylinders 35. As a result, it is possible to form a road surface inclined left and right. Since the treadmill of the present invention does not use a belt, it is possible to simulate a staircase by arranging the rollers 35 in a stepped manner.

The user position detecting device 10 includes a roller 35
Has a pair of optical sensors 40 provided at both ends. FIG. 5 is a side view of the treadmill 2 showing a mounting position of each optical sensor 40 of the user position detecting device 10, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. Roller 35
Are rotatably supported by bearings 41,
The light emitting element 40a of the optical sensor 40 is mounted on one bearing 41a of the roller 35, and the light receiving element 40b of the optical sensor 40 is mounted on the other bearing 41b.
Normally, the light beam from the light emitting element 40a is received by the light receiving element 40b. When the foot of the user 6 rides on the roller 35, the light beam is blocked. This is detected by the optical sensor 40 and turned on, so that the user position can be detected.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the front foot 45 and the rear foot 46
This shows a state where the position of the foot is detected. Also, usually
Since the foot is placed over the plurality of rollers 35 from the toe to the heel, the plurality of optical sensors 40 are turned ON. Therefore, as a method of estimating the foot position, the average value of the positions of the plurality of optical sensors 40 that have detected the foot position is set as the estimated foot position.

The treadmill control device 13 also estimates the walking speed of the user based on the estimated moving speed of the foot position.

The walking position detecting device 10 is not limited to the method using the optical sensor as described above. For example, the user 6 is photographed by a CCD camera, and the position of the foot and the walking speed are estimated based on the photographed image. May be.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining two methods of the embodiment of the load detecting device 11. First, Fig. 7 (1)
This is a method using a load cell 50 as shown in FIG. The roller 35 is supported at the tip of the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder 31 via a bearing 41, and a load cell 50 is provided here. Accordingly, the load acting on the roller 35 can be detected by subtracting the roller's own weight from the load detected by the load cell 50.

The second method is a method for detecting the differential pressure of the hydraulic cylinder 31, as shown in FIG. In this method, the differential pressure between the hydraulic chambers on both sides of the piston 51 of the hydraulic cylinder 31 is detected by a differential pressure detector 52, and the load converter 5
This is a method of detecting a load by converting it into a load in step 3. Assuming that the pressure area of the piston 51 is A and the pressure difference between the two hydraulic chambers is ΔP, the force F supported by the hydraulic cylinder 31 can be obtained by F = A · ΔP. From this, the load acting on the roller 35 can be obtained by subtracting the roller's own weight.

In the artificial environment system, first, an artificial environment to be simulated is instructed to the overall control computer 12, and the overall control computer 12 gives walking tactile data according to the instructed environment to the treadmill control device 13. The walking sensation data includes, for example, “sand”, “ice field”, “swamp”,
"Iwaji" and the like.

The treadmill control device 13 performs surface shape control and road surface state control based on the received walking sensation data and the detected user position and load. The surface shape control is performed by the surface shape control unit 16 as described above to form the surface shape of the road surface and to move the formed surface shape backward at the walking speed of the user 6.

The road surface state control is performed by the road surface state control unit 17, and is controlled separately for the soil and surface condition of the road surface. Next, the road surface state control will be described in detail.

The soil quality refers to the hardness of the ground, and controls how much the roller at the foot of the user sinks. That is, this is performed by the cylinder elevating control unit 19. Specifically, in sand, the foot sinks to some extent under the load of the user and eventually stops. In a swamp (bottomless swamp), it sinks deeply under load. It does not sink on rocky or ice fields, regardless of load.

In order to realize these soil sensations, the load detecting device 11 detects the load on the cylinder and lowers the cylinder in accordance with the simulated soil. That is, FIG.
As shown in (1), the load L is detected, and the detected load L is substituted into the soil model to calculate the ground position x.
The cylinder elevating / lowering position control unit 19 controls the cylinder 31 such that As a soil model,

[0042]

(Equation 1)

(1) On sand, c and k are small, and the surface position stops when x decreases to some extent. (2) In a swamp, k is almost zero, and the ground surface is sinking rapidly. (3) In rocky areas, c is zero and k is large, and the surface position stops with a slight subduction.

The soil model may not be a mathematical model such as the above equation (A) but may be a method of defining a time response of the ground surface position to a load as shown in FIG. 8 (2).

Next, the surface state control will be described.
The surface state creates a feeling like slipping on ice, etc., and is realized by changing the rotation speed of the landing roller. That is, the surface state control is performed by the roller rotation speed control unit 18.

For example, when the surface condition is on ice, a slipping sensation is created. In this case, the following two controls are performed. (1) As shown in FIG. 9A, the rotation speed of the roller F under the front foot 45 at the time of landing is made slower than the rotation speed of the roller B under the rear foot 46. As a result, the distance between the front and rear feet increases, and the forefoot 45 feels like slipping. (2) As shown in FIG. 9 (2), when the user 6 kicks the rear foot 46 to move forward, the rotation speed of the roller B below the rear foot 46 is increased. As a result, the force of kicking is not sufficiently applied, and it feels as if the player has slipped backward.

Further, by slightly changing the speed of the roller, it is possible to give a sense of shaking as if walking on a floating stone. In addition, by controlling the rotation of the rollers, a dull feeling can be created.

In the embodiment described above, the rotating body of the treadmill 2 is a cylindrical roller. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. The type rotating body 60 may be used. The belt type rotating body 60 includes, for example, four rollers 61, 62,
A set of 63 and 64 is arranged so as to have a substantially square cross section, and an endless annular belt 65 is wound around these. Then, one of the rollers is driven to rotate by a servo motor, thereby rotating the belt 65. In this way, a belt-type rotating body 60 whose outer peripheral portion rotates is configured.

The belt type rotating body 60 is arranged closely and parallel to each other to constitute a tread mill, similarly to the above-described embodiment. At this time, the surface of the treadmill can be made flat to give a flat feeling as compared with a cylindrical roller. This makes it possible to simulate a more realistic road surface shape.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, by individually controlling the rotational speeds of a plurality of rotating bodies, the user is presented with the feeling of walking on a slippery road surface such as on ice. can do.

Further, according to the present invention, the configuration can be simplified by using a cylindrical roller as the rotating body. In addition, by providing a belt on the outer periphery and using a rotating body that rotates the belt, the treadmill upper surface can be flattened and a flat feeling can be given as compared with the case where a roller is used.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to simulate a road surface having a complicated shape by vertically moving a plurality of rotating bodies.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to simulate a front-back or left-right inclined surface by individually controlling the vertical position of the rotating body.

Further, according to the present invention, the set road surface shape is controlled so as to move backward at the same speed as the user's moving speed, so that the user feels as if walking on an actual undulating road surface. Can be presented to the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an artificial environment system using a walking sensation presentation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the treadmill 2. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the treadmill 2. FIG.

4 is a front view of the treadmill 2. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a user position detecting device 10;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a load detection device 10.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a soil model.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a surface state and a rotation speed of a roller.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a belt-type rotating body 60.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 walking sensation presentation device 2 treadmill 3 control device 4 display device 13 treadmill control device 16 surface shape control unit 17 road surface condition control unit 18 roller rotation control unit 19 cylinder up / down position control unit 30 servo motor 31 cylinder 35 roller 60 belt type Rotating body

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Shigeichi Shidoda 1-1, Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Inside Akashi Plant (72) Inventor Tetsuya Kubota 1-1, Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy industry, Akashi factory (72) Inventor Eiichi Yagi 1-1, Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo prefecture Kawasaki heavy industry, Akashi factory

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A rod-like shape, arranged substantially horizontally in parallel,
A plurality of rotating bodies whose outer peripheral portions rotate around a predetermined rotation axis and on which a user is mounted, a rotating drive source provided for each rotating body and individually rotating and driving each rotating body; Controlling the rotation speed of each rotating body individually by controlling the rotating body rotation speed control means for presenting a sense of a predetermined road surface condition to a user walking on the rotating body. Walking sensation presentation device. 2. The rotating body whose outer peripheral portion rotates has a columnar shape, and has a roller that rotates as a whole as a whole, or a rotatable belt on the outer peripheral portion. The walking sensation presentation device according to claim 1, wherein the walking sensation presentation device is a belt-type rotating body that rotates. 3. A lifting / lowering drive source provided for each rotating body for individually lifting / lowering each rotating body, and the lifting / lowering drive so that a walking surface connecting the upper surfaces of the plurality of rotating bodies has a predetermined surface shape. 3. The walking sensation presentation device according to claim 1, further comprising a rotating body elevation control means for controlling a source. 4. The walking sensation presentation device according to claim 3, wherein the rotating body elevation control means controls an elevation drive source so as to simulate a front-rear or left-right inclined road surface. 5. The lifting / lowering control means controls the lifting / lowering drive source such that the set road surface shape moves rearward at the same speed as the walking speed of the user on the rotating body. The walking sensation presentation device according to claim 3 or 4, which performs the walking sensation presentation.