Although it was developed by the United States military, MIL-STD-810 is a test methodology that is used by many manufacturers now, regardless of whether they plan to sell to the U.S. Department of Defense.
MIL-STD-810G allows for tailoring an equipment’s environmental design and test limits to the conditions that it will experience, also known as ruggedizing a product.
Depending on the ruggedness requirement of a product (dictated by where and how it will be used), models have different pass criteria.
Industry Example
Within the computer laptop industry, three marketing categories are used to characterize the durability of business laptops: business-rugged, semi-rugged, and fully rugged.
Business-Rugged
A business-rugged laptop will typically feature a magnesium alloy chassis with shock-resistant hard drives and spill resistant keyboards. They are tested for shock, vibration, drops, low pressure, blowing sand, low/high temperatures, humidity, liquid spill and domestic dust.
Semi-Rugged
Semi-rugged devices feature additional protection including display protection, outdoor viewable display and port covers. They go through the same tests as business-rugged laptops, but are exposed for a longer test period, or have higher pass criteria.
Fully Rugged
Fully rugged laptops have to survive the most extreme conditions. These systems must withstand higher drops, more vibration, temperature shocks, intense rain, salted fog, explosive atmosphere, blowing sand/dust and function at a wider range of temperatures than less rugged devices.
In addition, most fully rugged systems pass a variety of other certifications such as IP-65 for ingress protection, ANSI/ISA 12.12.01 for hazardous locations, and MIL-STD-461F for resistance to electromagnetic interference.
Contact MET Labs for help in creating a rugged product test plan, or submit a request for testing.