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  • Author Author: dubbie
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100,000 Steps Completed

dubbie

Just finished the Walking Challenge that I set for myself of taking 100,000 steps outside in 10 days. I actually managed it in only 9 days. It has been more of a struggle than I imagined, mainly because I think my step counter only counts 'some' of my steps. I've raised some money for Zimbabwe (http://www.paraclete.org.uk/), enjoyed getting up at 6.30am and going for a walk. I think I will continue to get up early - as long as it is light.

 

Although the step counter was low cost I was still disappointed with it's performance. I think that it missed between 25% - 33% of my steps, all taken outside. It uses a ball making contact with connectors to identify when a step has taken place, with some electronic wizardry that performs some sort of filtering as it only updates every few steps. I am assuming that it is optimised for some standard walking frequency (perhaps even gait?) with the ball and contacts designed to this resonant frequency. I am probably not achieving that standard pace as I do walk very slowly (always have).

 

I am tempted to take it apart now that I have finished the challenge but fear I may not be able to put it together again! Not that I intend to use it again - at least not before consuming more cake calories than I have used up (apparently only 668 kCal! so only one cake).

 

As the UK seems about to enter the Lockdown phase or Covid-19 I might not be able to get much more walking in so now I am thinking I might make my own walking treadmill. There was some activity about this idea on element14 many years ago but has anyone done anything recently?

 

Dubbie

 

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  • "As the UK seems about to enter the Lockdown phase or Covid-19 I might not be able to get much more walking in so now I am thinking I might make my own walking treadmill."

    So far they appear to be encouraging walking during the lock down phase so long as you practise 'social distancing'. However, quite how you are supposed to safely maintain a 2m clearance from the next person on the average UK pavement (sidewalk) I'm not sure.

     

    With your background in robotic engineering perhaps you could recreate the 'leap of faith causeway' from Elephants Dream ? image

     

    Elephants Dream (2006)

    https://youtu.be/ePVe9FzuFfQ?t=246

     

    Is there a mechanical linkage which emulates a natural walking gait ? Treadmills appear to take up a lot of space.

     

    Hooking it up to Google Streetview would likely make indoor walking a lot more interesting, especially if you could match the machine's resistance setting to the elevation data of the route.

     

    For the more adventurous, you could perhaps convert a staircase into a stair climbing treadmill so that you have to climb more steps than normal increasing the exercise.      

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Dave,

     

    If I could make the machine in the Elephant's Dream I think I would probably be a millionaire by now!

     

    I like the idea of connecting a treadmill to Google StreetView. Not sure about a staircase version. I have enough trouble getting to the top of our stairs as it is.

     

    I have been thinking of getting a cheap non-motorised treadmill and then motorising it, otherwise where wold I use the Nano? But not being a mechanical engineer the mechanics of it does seem daunting.

     

    Dubbie

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  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Dave,

     

    If I could make the machine in the Elephant's Dream I think I would probably be a millionaire by now!

     

    I like the idea of connecting a treadmill to Google StreetView. Not sure about a staircase version. I have enough trouble getting to the top of our stairs as it is.

     

    I have been thinking of getting a cheap non-motorised treadmill and then motorising it, otherwise where wold I use the Nano? But not being a mechanical engineer the mechanics of it does seem daunting.

     

    Dubbie

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  • in reply to dubbie

    It is a marvellous concept though isn't it ?

     

    Well with the staircase version you could always program an 'escalator mode' for when it is finally time to hang up the running shoes... Program it with a sensor that detects your walking stick and confuse the hell out of the grandchildren in the process as to why they have to run like hamsters whilst grandpa gets a free ride...

     

    The mechanics need to be pretty robust as you are talking around 100kg of load hitting it 10k times in quick succession, so I suspect a DIY version would need to be over-engineered by quite an amount to start with.

     

    How about looking at a second hand industrial conveyor belt mechanism, as they are likely to be a bit more beefed up and serviceable ?

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Dave,

     

    Umm, I hadn't thought about the load bearing capability bit of the design. I wonder if there is a second hand market in industrial conveying systems?

     

    Dubbie