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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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  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Dave,

     

    This looks very similar to the one I used, except that yours uses solid state sensors and more intelligent step counting. I'm impressed with the nearly 35,000 steps in a day that's 17-18 miles! With my sensor I tried some calibration walks so walking around the block. Clockwise it was 520 steps, but anti-clockwise it was 720 steps, I was never able to work out why such a big difference, but it was consistent.

     

    The most I managed in one day over the nine days was 14,000 and I think I went out four times that day and I was finished by the end of the day. It is also pretty cold and wet at the moment so really long walks are not viable.

     

    Extracting the data from the solid sensors is quite fascinating due to all the different step lengths and gaits. I assume that with the more sophisticated step counters you can customise them to your stride length and gaits. I might try making my own one day as I already have a suitable sensor.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to dubbie

    Yes, no clicking of the ball bearing in this one. I used to have a ball bearing one but I always thought it was useless until the ball freed itself one day and it started working as expected.

     

    Does your circuit vary in height much - just wondering if leaning forward or backward to compensate for a gradient has an impact on the counting. Where you wear it might make a difference too - clipped to your shoe might generate a more accurate response than to your belt. The Omron appears to work the same if it's in a trouser pocket, on a belt or in a jacket pocket.

     

    My main walking exercise circuit is a lap around the work perimeter before lunchtime, so around 3,000 steps at a brisk continual pace, which the Omron logs as aerobic activity. I've had similar results in both directions and it is pretty consistent day-to-day apart from the eight months or so where I was auditioning for the 'Ministry of Silly Walks' due to injury. In hindsight, not sure if this was the best idea or not after looking at the uneven wear pattern on the sole of my boots. image

     

    The data is limited from mine but I do still log the step count. It was helpful to see if I was recovering any or not month-to-month. It would be nice to get more info and a data dump. Stride length is a setting, but if you want to use the measured distance then you need to keep an even stride.

     

    A DIY device would be interesting however not sure about the calculation of the step pulse. I recall the Ben Heck Show did something similar for Karen's costume episode to detect certain punches and kicks.

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    "...I recall the Ben Heck Show did something similar for Karen's costume episode to detect certain punches and kicks..."

    Ahh... here it is:

     

    Episode 257: Ben Heck's Halloween Superhero Wearables Part 1: Development Episode

     

    At about 12mins in Ben starts looking at the sensor data, soon to be accompanied by his Superhero accomplice.