Treadmill providing multiple axis displacement of the moving surface

Abstract

A treadmill exercise apparatus which accommodates displacement of the moving treadmill deck about the vertical axis and the longitudinal axis, and optionally about the lateral axis, simultaneously.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a treadmill exercise apparatus, comprising:
 causing electronic control hardware comprising a processor operably connected to the treadmill exercise apparatus to execute program instructions for performing a choreographed exercise routine, wherein the treadmill exercise apparatus comprises
 a substantially circular deck platform comprising a longitudinal axis, a lateral axis, and a vertical axis 
 a moving deck on an upper surface of the deck platform, 
 a support platform supporting the deck platform, 
 a tread belt operably connected to a drive motor, the drive motor causing continuous movement of the belt along the longitudinal axis to provide, 
 a first plurality of anchor points on the deck platform positioned laterally to the moving deck and configured and arranged such that the first plurality of anchor points remain in a fixed orientation relative to the moving deck, 
 a second plurality of anchor points on the support platform such that the second plurality of anchor points are on non-rotating/non-tilting portions of the apparatus, 
 a first actuator configured to introduce yaw motion of the deck platform such that the longitudinal axis of the deck platform rotates about the vertical axis and the moving deck is thereby displaced relative to the support platform and a second actuator configured to introduce roll motion of the deck platform such that the lateral axis of the deck platform rotates about the longitudinal axis and the moving deck is thereby displaced relative to the support platform, wherein the first and second actuators are configured and arranged such that the deck platform accommodates displacement of the moving deck about the vertical axis and the longitudinal axis simultaneously, and 
 a display system configured to project visual cues in the form of visible light onto the ground surrounding the treadmill exercise apparatus, 
   wherein performing the choreographed exercise routine comprises controlling speed of the moving deck and yaw and roll motion of the deck platform.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are stored on a digital storage medium within the electronic control hardware operably connected to the processor. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the electronic control hardware is contained within the treadmill exercise apparatus. 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the electronic control hardware is configured to receive the program instructions from a remote device. 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 4 , wherein remote device is a data server operably connected to the electronic control hardware over a network connection. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the treadmill exercise apparatus further comprises an audiovisual display operably connected to the electronic control hardware, and wherein performing the choreographed exercise routine comprises controlling the content of the audiovisual display. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the content of the audiovisual display depicts a live or archived audiovisual stream received over a network connection. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the live or archived audiovisual stream depicts an archived performance of the choreographed exercise routine and the treadmill exercise apparatus performs the choreographed exercise routine in synchrony with the archived performance. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the content of the audiovisual display depicts performance parameters derived from performance of the choreographed exercise routine by the treadmill exercise apparatus. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the content of the audiovisual display depicts performance parameters derived from performance of the choreographed exercise routine by one or more third parties. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the electronic control hardware is configured to transmit performance parameters derived from performance of the choreographed exercise routine to a data server at a remote location over a network connection. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the electronic control hardware is configured to receive the program instructions from a remote device;   the remote device is a data server operably connected to the electronic control hardware over a network connection;   the treadmill exercise apparatus further comprises an audiovisual display operably connected to the electronic control hardware, and performing the choreographed exercise routine comprises controlling the content of the audiovisual display;   the content of the audiovisual display depicts one or more of: a live or archived audiovisual stream received over a network connection, first performance parameters derived from performance of the choreographed exercise routine by the treadmill exercise apparatus, and second performance parameters derived from performance of the choreographed exercise routine by one or more third parties; and   the electronic control hardware is configured to transmit performance parameters derived from performance of the choreographed exercise routine to the data server at a remote location over a network connection.