Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization
The Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization System, commonly abbreviated as TVIS, is a treadmill for use on board the International Space Station and is designed to allow astronauts to run without vibrating delicate microgravity science experiments in adjacent labs. International Space Station treadmills, not necessarily described here, have included the original treadmill, the original TVIS, the БД-2, the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), and the Treadmill 2. Some share a name, some a design, some a function, some use different (passive) vibration-suppression systems, some it is unclear how they differ.
Astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams bungeed to the TVIS treadmill aboard the International Space Station.
Official patch for COLBERT
The COLBERT decal being placed during construction
Pete Gauthier, a packing engineer for United Space Alliance, prepares the COLBERT and its parts for loading into the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo in preparation for launch to the International Space Station.
A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of mill operated by a person or animal treading the steps of a treadwheel to grind grain. In later times, treadmills were used as punishment devices for people sentenced to hard labour in prisons. The terms treadmill and treadwheel were used interchangeably for the power and punishment mechanisms.
Example of modern treadmill
Horses powering a threshing mill
Treadmill used to punish prisoners at Breakwater Prison, Cape Town
Treadmill test at the medical center of the Olympic village at the 1980 Summer Olympics