Last Updated on December 5, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org
We did some experiments with step counting since several years. Fellnr
https://fellrnr.com/wiki/Stryd
& Ray could convince us, that foot pods are more accurate than GPS. But now Ray says, the different GPS systems have become more accurate, who does still need foot pods? We did some tests, and we found that a training tracker is great, which counts steps from the foot pod.
Then, we found out, that the Stryd can count steps at slower speeds.
Ray wrote, that if we calibrate a normal foot pod, it is accurate as the Stryd. This can also be seen from the graph of Fellnr.
To buy a Stryd for walking meditation seemed to be overkill. It worked to have accurate data with a training tracker and an ordinary foot pod.
We bought a Stryd on ebay for some tests. Then we did not use it anymore. Then, we found out, that a Stryd eventually works at slower speed than a Suunto food pod in some experiments.
As we wanted to make another test, the battery of the Stryd was dead.
We bought a second one on ebay. The second one worked, but charged only for some hours. According to Stryd, it should charge much longer. After a while, also the second Stryd we bought on ebay was dead.
Then we bought a third one. But we did not have time for testing. When we tested it, the third one was charging on the charger, but the charging light never stopped, and we did not have any signal from the third Stryd with a training tracker. We could not pair it.
Then we bough our 4th Stryd on ebay. It was completely new, newer used, sealed in original packing. Unfortunately, we did not test it either, and let the Stryd be for a while.
When we tried to test the latest one, it was possible to charge if for some hours, and pair it to a training tracker, but it did not count steps with a training tracker. Pairing to a watch was possible, but we did not receive any data from the Stryd.
We ended up having four Stryds that we bought on ebay, but none of them was working. We came to the assumption that there are people who sell their Stryds on ebay because they have problems with the battery.
With a Suntoo footpod, we did not have these problems. The battery can be replaced easily. We did some tests with it on a threadmill starting with 1 km/h for one our. Neither a training tracker nor a Garmin Venu watch gave any results.
We then increased the speed to 2 km/h. Now, steps where recorded, both in a training tracker and on the watch, but not speed and distance. And we where not sure whether the recorded steps are correct.
We found at 3 km/h for one hour. everything worked with a Suntoo foot pod indoors on a thead mill for walking mediation. 3km/h is a bit fast for walking meditation, but it works. If we did not move our hands very conciously, the Venu watch was vibrating and gave a warning, that the speed is below 90 steps per minute. Below that value, Garmin Connect shows zero values for step rate. A training has no such warning system.
We still do not know whether the Stryd can record steps, speed and distance at slower speeds than the Suntoo fod pods, since all of our Stryds have dead batteries. After having four Stryds with dead batteries, it is eventually worth to open up the Stryd and solder new batteries which seem to be possible.
We found and instruction in the Stryd forum, and ordered a battery. We found offers for 20 USD for a Stryd battery, which is quiet expensive. Then we found another offer from an ebay store in Germany for 14 USD. We ordered one.
Then we received a confirmation that the battery was shipped from a store in Spain to Switzerland. We immediately thought, that it could be a fake store who cheated us. We are not sure if we ever will receive the special Stryd battery from Spain.
It is worth to test the questions started here further, for all people wo practice walking meditation. Only counting steps alone is not satisfying for us personally, if we can have more data. But we still do not know whether it is worth to buy a Stryd for it. Is ground contact time helpful for practicing walking meditation? We have to wait for the battery from Spain to test it.
Bitalino showed us how to build a foot pod ourselves. Is it possible to build a special foot pod for practicing walking mediation? Bitalino has all the components available to test it. The Bitalino Forum adviced us to review the different scientific papers for step counting first. But unfortunately, the instructions about how to build an open source foot pod in the Bitalino forum are gone, since the Bitalino forum is not there anymore.
The protocol indoor walking on Garmin counts steps, but it does not count the steps of the foot pod. It can only be seen on the watch screen of Garmin watches.
Some time ago, it showed the steps during an activity in Garmin Connect. It showed also lap steps. Now, the lab steps in Garmin Connect are gone, and the total steps.
The steps from a foot pod can be recorded by a training tracker. The data can be optained from the .csv file, which can be found in the directory workouts. A training tracker is currently the only option which records steps that we know. But steps can also be calculated from stride length and distance.