Controlling operation of a treadmill

Abstract

In some embodiments, the various devices, systems, methods, and apparatuses utilize sensors to control the operation of a treadmill based on a detected position, movement, or actions of a user on a moving treadmill. For example, a treadmill includes a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. The ToF sensor detects a position of a user (e.g., a runner on a moving belt or running surface of the treadmill), and, based on the detected position, controls the operation of the treadmill, such as by maintaining a current operation of the belt or running surface and/or modifying operation of the running belt or surface.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A treadmill, comprising:
 a deck;   a belt having a running surface that moves around the deck; and   a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor that detects a position of a user of the treadmill on the running surface.   
     
     
         2 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an upper assembly that is fixed to the deck, the upper assembly including:
 a left sidewall; 
 a right sidewall, 
 wherein the left sidewall and the right sidewall extend upwards from the deck; 
 a display fixed to the left sidewall and the right sidewall; and 
 a cross bar that extends between the left sidewall and the right sidewall;
 wherein the ToF sensor is disposed on an outer surface of the cross bar and faces a user of the treadmill on the running surface. 
 
   
     
     
         3 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a control circuit that is communicatively coupled to the ToF sensor and operates to modify a current operation of the belt based on the position of the user of the treadmill detected by the ToF sensor.   
     
     
         4 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a control circuit that is communicatively coupled to the ToF sensor and operates to modify a current speed of the belt based on the position of the user of the treadmill detected by the ToF sensor.   
     
     
         5 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a control circuit that is communicatively coupled to the ToF sensor and operates to modify a current incline of the deck based on the position of the user of the treadmill detected by the ToF sensor.   
     
     
         6 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a left sidewall and a right sidewall that each extend upwards to support an upper assembly;   wherein the ToF sensor includes a left ToF sensor disposed on an outer surface of the left sidewall and a right ToF sensor disposed on an outer surface of the right sidewall.   
     
     
         7 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an upper assembly that is fixed to the deck via a left sidewall and a right sidewall,
 wherein the left sidewall and the right sidewall extend upwards to support the upper assembly; 
   a display fixed to the upper assembly; and   a cross bar that extends between the left sidewall and the right sidewall,
 wherein the ToF sensor is disposed on an outer surface of the cross bar and faces a user of the treadmill on the running surface; 
   a left ToF sensor disposed on an outer surface of the left sidewall; and   a right ToF sensor disposed on an outer surface of the right sidewall.   
     
     
         8 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , wherein the time-of-flight (ToF) sensor detects the position of a user within a distinct zone of multiple detection zones that are mapped to the running surface of the belt, the multiple detection zones including:
 a front detection zone that represents a front area of the running surface of the belt;   a center detection zone that represents a center area of the running surface of the belt; and   a rear detection zone that represents a rear area of the running surface of the belt.   
     
     
         9 . The treadmill of  claim 1 , wherein the time-of-flight (ToF) sensor detects the position of a user within a distinct zone of multiple detection zones that are mapped to the running surface of the belt, the treadmill further comprising:
 a control circuit that is communicatively coupled to the ToF sensor and operates to modify a current operation of the belt based on the position of the user of the treadmill being within one of the distinct zones of the multiple detection zones.   
     
     
         10 . A control system for a treadmill, the control system comprising:
 multiple hardware modules, including:
 a zone detection module that detects a position of a user of the treadmill being within a distinct zone of multiple detection zones that are mapped to a running surface of the treadmill; and 
 an operation modification module that modifies a current operation of the treadmill based on the detected position of the user of the treadmill within the distinct zone of the multiple detection zones that are mapped to the running surface. 
   
     
     
         11 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the multiple detection zones include:
 a front detection zone that represents a front area of the running surface of the belt;   a center detection zone that represents a center area of the running surface of the belt; and   a rear detection zone that represents a rear area of the running surface of the belt; and   wherein the operation modification module causes movement of the running surface to speed up when the zone detection module detects that the position of the user is within the front detection zone.   
     
     
         12 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the multiple detection zones include:
 a front detection zone that represents a front area of the running surface of the belt;   a center detection zone that represents a center area of the running surface of the belt; and   a rear detection zone that represents a rear area of the running surface of the belt; and   wherein the operation modification module causes movement of the running surface to slow down when the zone detection module detects that the position of the user is within the rear detection zone.   
     
     
         13 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the zone detection module accesses information captured by a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor of the treadmill to detect the position of the user of the treadmill being within the distinct zone of multiple detection zones that are mapped to the running surface of the treadmill. 
     
     
         14 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the operation modification module performs an action to modify a current speed of movement of the running surface of the treadmill. 
     
     
         15 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the operation modification module performs an action to modify a current incline position of the running surface of the treadmill. 
     
     
         16 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the operation modification module performs an action to alert the user to move to a center zone of the multiple detection zones that are mapped to the running surface. 
     
     
         17 . The control system of  claim 10 , wherein the operation modification module performs actions to:
 notify the user of an imminent modification of the current operation of the treadmill; and   when the user does not move to a center zone of the multiple detection zones that are mapped to the running surface in response to the notification, modify a current speed of movement of the running surface of the treadmill.   
     
     
         18 . A method performed by a treadmill, the method comprising:
 tracking movement of legs of a user running on a running surface of the treadmill; and   modifying operation of the treadmill when the tracked movement represents an abnormal movement of the legs of the user.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein tracking the movement of the legs of the user running on the running surface includes capturing position or speed or acceleration information associated with the movement of the legs of the user using one or more time-of-flight (ToF) sensors of the treadmill. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein modifying the operation of the treadmill when the tracked movement represents an abnormal movement of the legs of the user includes:
 accessing a current speed of the running surface of the treadmill;   comparing speed information determined from the tracked movement of the legs of the user to a baseline speed of the legs of the user at the current speed and incline of the running surface of the treadmill; and   determining the abnormal movement of the legs of the user when the speed information determined from the tracked movement of the legs of the user is below the baseline speed.