superBoots
For my senior design project at Columbia University, I wanted to build something that no one in their right mind would ever pay me to build. Enter SuperBoots: A pair of pneumatically powered horseshoes that make you run faster and jump higher.
SuperBoots Poster showing the three prototypes we built in a single semester. Air springs, and extendable sole, and the final horseshoe form. .
So I recruited the smartest kids in my class and we got to work. Here is a CAD model of the final SuperBoot.
Final SuprBoot CAD
We did some finite element analysis to size the horseshoe components:
Composite FEA of the Horseshoe
Check out the pictures below (click through to see them all). Did I mention that the boots were controlled by a modded out Nintendo Powerglove?
SuperBoots Picture Gallery
What did we learn: Choked flow and resistance in the air supply lines can really limit the kick that one can deliver to the pistons! The boots ultimately never launched anyone into outer space....