Treadmills For Power
Treadmills as power sources originated in antiquity. These ancient machines came in three major designs. The first was to have a horizontal bar jutting out of a vertical shaft. It rotated around a vertical axis, driven by an ox or other animal walking in a circle pushing the bar. Even humans were used to power them. The second design was a vertical wheel that was powered through climbing in place instead of walking in circles. This is similar to what we know today as the hamster wheel. The third design also required climbing but used a sloped, moving platform instead.
Treadmills as muscle powered engines originated roughly 4,000 years ago. Their primary use was to lift buckets of water. This same technology was later adapted to create rotary grain mills and the treadwheel crane. It was also used to pump water and power dough-kneading machines and bellows.
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