Combat Boot Durability Testing Machine

According to our project sponsor, the U.S. Army seeks a mechanical testing system to evaluate the long-term durability of combat boots under realistic walking conditions. The goal of this project is to design and prototype a machine that replicates, as closely as practical, the geometry, motion, and forces experienced by a typical soldier while walking in standard-issue combat boots. Key requirements to the success of this project included toe position repeatability of less than or equal to 3mm, an adjustable vertical load of 700-1000 Newtons, and speed adjustment from 0.8-1.8 Hz. Additionally, safety features and operator assistance such as a cycle counter, rigid guards on all rotating points, and an e-stop working within 1 second were required. Finally given that the primary purpose of the test was durability it is important to ensure robustness of all our parts. To ensure this all structural components shall be designed for over 5,000,000 cycles with a fatigue safety factor of 2.0, and the frame shall have a maximum calculated stress less than 40% of the materials yield strength, and under 2.0mm of deflection under 1.25x the rated load.