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Read this before use.

Safety notices, setup steps and a troubleshooting table for a pedal that does not exist. Keep this manual near the pedal. Keep the pedal near your foot.

Document no.: TRD-M-001
Revision: A
Date of issue: 2026-11-08
Product: Treadle T-1, operator-presence foot pedal
Status: Concept. Not manufactured. Not certified.
Drawn by: Design office

1Safety information

Read this section before the pedal is pressed. Each message names the hazard, what happens if it is ignored, and how to avoid it.

Warning

Do not put a brick on the pedal.

Hazard: An object, a wedge, tape or a slumped body keeps the treadle (1) down while nobody is at the pedal.
Consequence: The loop stays closed and the agents keep running with no one present. They may change files, send mail and spend money unobserved. Serious harm to your inbox, your accounts or your week is possible.
Avoidance: Do not weight, wedge, tape, lash or sit on the treadle. Stay with the pedal while it is pressed. If you must leave, lift your foot.

Warning

This is not a safety device.

Hazard: The pedal carries a loop of two wires and no safety rating.
Consequence: If it is used to control anything with a blade, a load, a wheel or a patient, the control is not rated for it and people may be seriously injured.
Avoidance: Use it only to run software agents. For machinery, use equipment certified for machinery.

Caution

Three metres of cable is a trip hazard.

Hazard: Cable (12) lies across a walkway.
Consequence: Someone may trip, and minor or moderate injury may result. The pedal will be pulled from under your foot, which stops the agents. Your knee will not mind this as much as you do.
Avoidance: Route the cable along a wall or under the desk. Do not coil it on top of the pedal.

Caution

Holding the pedal is work for the foot.

Hazard: The treadle must be held down for as long as the agents run.
Consequence: Fatigue or cramp in the foot or calf, minor in most cases. This is how the pedal limits the length of a run, and is intended.
Avoidance: Release the pedal and rest. Let the run be as long as your foot is. Do not relieve the foot with a brick.

Notice

Release stops agents mid-word.

Hazard: Lifting the foot halts the run at once, wherever it is.
Consequence: Property damage of a modest kind: half a sentence, a half-edited file, a half-finished thought. The agents have not been told.
Avoidance: If the sentence matters, wait for the full stop before you lift.

2Intended use

Intended. Running software agents while one person is present, standing or sitting at the pedal, with a foot on the treadle.

Not intended. Unattended running. Holding the pedal with an object. Pressing it by pet, child or chair. Controlling machinery, vehicles or anything with a blade. Use as a step, a stool or a doorstop.

See section 1 before any use that is not listed under Intended.

3Parts identification

Part numbers in this manual are the part numbers on the Pedal page. Part 8, the maker's plate, is on the housing and is not drawn here. Parts 1 to 12 are:

1treadle
2tread bars
3hinge pin
4return spring
5switch
6housing
7run lamp
8maker's plate
9cable gland
10base plate
11screws M5
12cable

View A Side view, treadle up. Parts 1 to 7 and 10.

4Setup

4.1 Turn the housing (6) over. Seat the base plate (10) and fasten it with the four screws M5 (11). Tighten by hand until they stop.

View B Underside, base plate fitted.
4.2 Seat the cable (12) in the cable gland (9) until it stops. Pull it gently. It should not come out. It is captive and is not meant to.

View C Rear, cable seated in the gland.
4.3 Stand the pedal on the floor with the treadle (1) toward you. Run the cable along a wall.

Caution The cable is a trip hazard. See section 1.

5Operation

The pedal has one control and one verb. Hold to run. Release to halt.

5.1 Put your foot on the tread bars (2). The run lamp (7) is dark and the agents wait.

View D Side view, foot on the treadle.
5.2 Press the treadle (1) down until the switch (5) closes. The run lamp (7) lights and the agents run. The lamp is lit by the loop current, so it cannot say they are running when they are not.

Warning Stay with the pedal while it is pressed. Do not put a brick on it.

View E Side view, treadle down, lamp lit.
5.3 Lift your foot. The return spring (4) raises the treadle, the switch opens, the lamp goes out and the agents stop, possibly mid-word. Up is off.

6Troubleshooting

Causes are listed from most to least likely within a symptom. Remedies are orders.

Troubleshooting: symptom, probable cause and remedy
Symptom	Probable cause	Remedy
Agents keep running after release.	There is a brick on the pedal.	Remove the brick. Read section 1.
Agents stop mid-word.	You lifted your foot.	None required. This is correct operation.
Agents do not start.	The treadle (1) is not fully down, so the switch (5) is open.	Press until the run lamp (7) lights.
Run lamp is lit and nothing is happening.	The agents have nothing to do.	Give them something, or lift your foot and enjoy the quiet.
Run lamp stays dark while pressed.	Cable (12) is not seated in the gland (9), or the loop is open.	Reseat the cable. Do not try the other pedal. There is no other pedal.
The pedal creeps across the floor.	Screws M5 (11) are loose, or the floor is polished.	Tighten the screws. Use a mat. Do not use a brick.
The treadle does not come back up.	The return spring (4) is tired, or a cat is sitting on the treadle.	Remove the cat. Replace the spring.
Agents keep running after release, and there is no brick.	Not possible with this pedal.	Confirm that it is this pedal. If it is, lift your foot and go outside.

7Warranty

Warranty: none. There is no pedal.

No part of the pedal is covered, because no part of the pedal has been made. The maker's plate (8) is not engraved, the lamp (7) has never lit and the brick is not covered either.

8Disposal

Not applicable. Do not dispose of a pedal that does not exist. This product bears no certification or recycling mark, because it has none and they would not be real.

If you have placed a brick on a pedal of your own, it is reusable. Remove it and return it to the wall.

9Revision history

Rev.	Date	Change
A	2026-11-08	First issue. Section 1 written before a brick was found on the pedal, and so only slightly better than it could have been.

End of document TRD-M-001.

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